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'         ADDRESSES 

TO 

ENGINEERING  -STUDENTS 


EDITED  BY 

WADDELL  &  HARRINGTON, 

CONSULTING  ENGINEERS. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

WADDELL  &  HARRINGTON, 
KANSAS  CITY,  MISSOURI. 
1911. 


Engineering 
Library 


COPYRIGHT,  1911 

BY 
WADDELL  &  HARRINGTON. 


The  Schooley  Stationery  Co. 

Printers  &  Lithographers 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 


PREFACE. 

For  some  time  the  compilers  of  this  work  have  been  considering 
the  advisability  of  editing  and  publishing  the  papers  of  which  it  is 
composed,  although  from  the  very  start  they  were  firmly  convinced 
of  both  its  necessity  and  the  great  amount  of  good  that  it  is  capable 


-nary, 

ERRATA  r  to 

iian 
I   to 

Please  paste  this  Errata  Slip  in  e.^  copy  of  "Addresses  to  Engineering  :ach 
Students"  recently  sent  to  you.  but 

low 

Page  136,  line  34:  For  "little  opportunities  for  emotion  that  the  student  ;ses. 
instinctively  looks  for"  read  "spider.  We  are  apt  to  condemn  students  for  reat 
going  to  trashy  shows,  for"  the 

Page  423,  line  23:     For  "engineers  in  the  opinion  of  writers  and  society 
people;  nevertheless"  read  "engineers,  hence  the  young  engineer  there  has    not 
had  to  obtain"  -far 

WADDELL  &  HARRINGTON,  rork 

Publisher*.  cost 

;>ook 

—~r-— « 0 , x-iper, 

press-work,  binding,  and  distribution,  the  latter  being  reduced  to  an 
absolute  rninimum  by  cutting  out  all  possible  profit  thereon.  This 
has  permitted  of  the  book  being  sold  to  students  of  engineering, 
when  ordered  in  large  quantities,  at  seventy-five  cents  per  copy  and 
to  the  general  public  in  single  copies  at  one  dollar.  The  Editors 
were  guided  in  this  action  by  the  following  reasons: 

First.  They  want  the  book  not  only  to  be  widely  read  but  also 
to  remain  permanently  for  reference  in  the  libraries  of  those  who 
read  it. 

Second.  As  the  compelling  of  students  to  purchase  an  additional 
text  book  is  looked  upon  by  some  persons  to  be  in  the  nature  of  an 
imposition,  it  appeared  advisable  to  minimize  to  the  utmost  the 
gravity  of  such  imposition. 

In  preparing  the  book  the  Editors  have  been  governed  by  no 
sordid  nor  selfish  motives,  but  solely  by  their  desire  to  aid  the  stu- 

785399 


The  Schooley  Stationery  Co. 

Printers  &  Lithographers 

Kansas  City.  Mo. 


PREFACE. 

For  some  time  the  compilers  of  this  work  have  been  considering 
the  advisability  of  editing  and  publishing  the  papers  of  which  it  is 
composed,  although  from  the  very  start  they  were  firmly  convinced 
of  both  its  necessity  and  the  great  amount  of  good  that  it  is  capable 
of  accomplishing  for  the  engineering  profession.  Finally,  in  February, 
1911,  in  order  to  settle  the  question,  they  sent  a  circular  letter  to 
some  six  hundred  and  fifty  instructors  in  American  and  Canadian 
engineering  schools  requesting  their  opinions,  which  later  proved  to 
be  almost  unanimously  favorable.  This  letter  asked  not  only  each 
professor's  idea  concerning  the  advisability  of  the  publication;  but 
also  whether  he  would  use  the  work  as  a  text  book  and,  if  so,  how 
many  copies  per  annum  would  probably  be  required  for  his  classes. 
While  the  number  thus  ascertained  to  be  needed  was  not  as  great 
as  might  have  been  desired,  it  was  large  enough  to  warrant  the 
Editors  in  undertaking  the  work. 

Just  here  it  is  pertinent  to  mention  that  the  compilation  has  not 
by  any  means  been  undertaken  as  a  money-making  venture — far 
from  it ! — because  the  Editors  have  not  only  done  gratis  all  the  work 
involved  in  its  preparation,  but  also  have  themselves  paid  the  cost 
of  typesetting  and  providing  the  plates,  in  order  that  the  book 
may  be  sold  to  engineering  students  at  the  actual  cost  of  paper, 
press-work,  binding,  and  distribution,  the  latter  being  reduced  to  an 
absolute  minimum  by  cutting  out  all  possible  profit  thereon.  This 
has  permitted  of  the  book  being  sold  to  students  of  engineering, 
when  ordered  in  large  quantities,  at  seventy-five  cents  per  copy  and 
to  the  general  public  in  single  copies  at  one  dollar.  The  Editors 
were  guided  in  this  action  by  the  following  reasons: 

First.  They  want  the  book  not  only  to  be  widely  read  but  also 
to  remain  permanently  for  reference  in  the  libraries  of  those  who 
read  it. 

Second.  As  the  compelling  of  students  to  purchase  an  additional 
text  book  is  looked  upon  by  some  persons  to  be  in  the  nature  of  an 
imposition,  it  appeared  advisable  to  minimize  to  the  utmost  the 
gravity  of  such  imposition. 

In  preparing  the  book  the  Editors  have  been  governed  by  no 
sordid  nor  selfish  motives,  but  solely  by  their  desire  to  aid  the  stu- 

785399 


iv  PREFACE. 

dents  of  engineering  and  young  engineers  to  make  the  best  of  their 
opportunities  for  development  and  progress,  and  thus  eventually  to 
benefit  the  profession. 

The  Editors  were  led  to  the  issuing  of  the  book  by  the  recog- 
nition of  the  following  facts : 

"First:  Most  students  who  enter  technical  schools  have  no  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  standing  of  the  engineering  profession  nor  of  its 
importance  to  the  world;  and  the  already  excessive  demands  upon 
the  instructor's  time  make  it  very  difficult  for  him  to  impart  much 
information  along  these  lines. 

"Second:  As  a  rule,  mainly  because  of  the  excessively  large 
classes  that  engineering  professors  have  to  teach,  students  are  not 
given  sufficient  friendly  advice  concerning  how  to  make  the  most 
of  their  course  of  instruction,  and  are  not  taught  how  to  study  to 
best  advantage. 

"Third:  For  the  same  reason,  students  usually  are  not  taught 
enough  about  ethical  matters  for  their  guidance  both  at  college  and 
in  practical  life  afterwards. 

"Fourth:  With  a  few  notable  exceptions,  students  generally 
are  not  instructed  at  all  adequately  in  good,  sound,  forcible,  engi- 
neering English." 

The  reader  will  notice  that  many  of  the  "Addresses"  have  been 
prefaced  with  editorial  notes  telling  in  certain  cases  who  the  writer 
is  or  was,  and  for  what  special  purpose  the  address  was  prepared, 
besides  pointing  out  and  emphasizing  a  few  of  its  most  salient  or 
important  features.  No  apology  is  needed  for  this  prefacing,  because 
such  notes  should  certainly  prove  both  interesting  and  valuable. 

The  following  quotation  from  the  Editors'  before-mentioned 
circular  letter  will  indicate  their  object  and  the  methods  by  which 
they  hope  to  attain  it. 

"Our  desire  is  to  catch  the  freshmen  as  they  enter,  tell  them 
what  a  great  and  important  profession  engineering  is,  inform  them 
as  to  what  they  must  do  in  order  to  obtain  the  greatest  amount  of 
value  from  their  technical  course,  rouse  their  enthusiasm  for  study 
and  work,  develop  in  them  high  ideals  in  respect  to  ethics  and  ac- 
complishment, and  encourage  them  effectively  to  use  their  utmost 
endeavor  to  make  themselves  a  credit  to  both  the  college  and  the 
engineering  profession. 

"Please  note  that  the  book  could  be  used  as  a  text  book  through- 
out the  entire  engineering  course,  some  of  the  papers  applying  spec- 
ially to  the  completion  thereof  and  to  the  starting  of  the  engineer's 
life  work. 


PREFACE.  v 

"As  the  papers  of  which  the  book  would  be  composed  are  written 
in  excellent  English,  the  instructors  in  that  language  could  employ 
it  to  good  advantage  as  a  text  book  or  book  of  reference.  We  firmly 
believe  in  the  importance  of  instructing  engineering  students  in  good, 
modern,  engineering  English,  instead  of  teaching  them  mainly  from 
the  ancient  classical  literature." 

No  apology  is  needed  for  the  omission  of  portions  of  certain 
papers,  for  the  parts  thus  elided  either  were  not  of  special  interest 
to  students  or  dealt  with  matter  treated  fully  elsewhere. 

Anyone  who  reads  the  book  from  cover  to  cover  (and  the  Editors 
earnestly  hope  that  there  will  be  many  of  its  readers  who  will  do  so) 
will  undoubtedly  find  that  some  points  have  been  discussed  by  more 
than  one  of  the  writers,  thus  involving  more  or  less  repetition;  but 
this  is  not  objectionable,  because  such  points  are  generally  of  great 
importance,  and  their  reiteration  simply  adds  emphasis  to  the  state- 
ments. An  agreement  of  authorities  on  any  subject  will  tend  to  con- 
vince the  reader  of  the  correctness  of  their  opinion  and  to  impress 
it  forcibly  on  his  mind. 

Occasionally  it  may  be  found  that  the  authorities  disagree;  and 
in  such  cases  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  reader  to  form  for  himself 
his  own  opinion.  However,  on  all  essential  matters  the  various  writers 
will  generally  be  found  perfectly  in  accord. 

The  numerous  addresses  composing  this  volume  are  arranged 
in  the  order  in  which  the  Editors  deem  they  may  most  advantage- 
ously be  read  by  students  of  engineering.  If  the  book  were  used 
as  a  text,  the  first  eleven  addresses  might  pertain  to  the  work  of  the 
freshman  year,  the  next  seven  to  that  of  the  sophomore,  the  next 
seven  to  that  of  the  junior,  and  the  remainder  to  that  of  the  senior. 
Such  a  division  is  merely  suggestive  and  need  not  be  followed.  The 
earnest  freshman  student  who  desires  to  obtain  the  greatest  possible 
benefit  from  his  course  of  instruction  and  who  has  ambition  to  suc- 
ceed later  in  the  profession  and  make  a  name  and  a  position  for  him- 
self therein,  will  probably  read  the  book  from  Preface  to  Finis, 
then  will  begin  to  study  it  anew,  and  will  continue  to  review  it 
during  his  entire  course.  If  he  does  so,  he  cannot  fail  to  be  greatly 
and  materially  benefited  by  its  perusal  and  study.  In  fact,  the 
Editors  feel  confident  that  such  a  use  of  the  book  will  often  eventu- 
ally prove  to  be  the  determining  factor  between  success  and  failure 
or  mediocrity  in  the  reader's  professional  career. 

Recapitulating,  the  Editors  beg  to  express  the  hope,  and  even 
the  conviction,  that  this  compilation  of  addresses  will  result  to  an 


vi  PREFACE. 

eminent  degree  in  the  following  benefits  to  students  of  engineering 
and  young  engineers : 

A.  Directing  students   into   right   lines   of   thought   and   action 
during  their  college  course. 

B.  Encouraging  students   toward   the   ethical   life   both   before 
and  after  graduation. 

C.  Development  among  students  of  a  love  for  the  engineering 
profession. 

D.  Giving  to  students  a  true  and  adequate  conception  of  the 
scope  and  dignity  of  the  engineering  profession. 

E.  Enabling  students  to  obtain  the  most  profit  from  their  tech- 
nical course. 

F.  Improvement  in  students'  and  young  engineers'  knowledge 
and  command  of  the  English  language. 

G.  Enabling  graduates  to  develop  themselves  rapidly,  thorough- 
ly, and  successfully  in  their  professional  careers. 

H.  Finally,  though  perhaps  indirectly,  benefiting  the  engineer- 
ing profession  ethically  and  in  many  other  ways. 

If  these  results  ever  be  accomplished,  even  in  a  minor  degree, 
the  Editors  will  feel  amply  repaid  for  all  the  work  which  they  have 
done  in  thus  resurrecting  (oftentimes  from  oblivion)  the  valuable 
and  interesting  papers  of  which  this  volume  is  composed. 

J.  A.  L.  Waddell, 
John  Lyle  Harrington. 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

April,  1911. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PACK 

THE  PROFESSION  OF  ENGINEER. 

By  the  Editors  ....................  1 

ADVICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 

By  Professor  Francis  C.  Shenehon  ......  5 

Two  KINDS  OF  EDUCATION  FOR  ENGINEERS. 
By  Dean  J.  B.  Johnson-- 

THE  DURABLE  SATISFACTIONS  OF  LIFE. 
By  Charles  W.  Eliot- 

ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

By  Professor  Frank  P.  McKibben-.  -  43 

THE  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH  TO  THE  TECHNICAL  MAN. 

By  John  Lyle  Harrington,  C.  E—  -  49 

THE  NECESSITY  FOR  INDIVIDUAL  ENGINEERING  LIBRARIES  AND  FOR  CONTINUING 
STUDY  AFTER  GRADUATION. 

By  John  Lyle  Harrington,  C.  E-.  -  69 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  THE  TECHNICAL  PRESS  WITH   SPECIAL  REFERENCE 
TO  ENGINEERING  NEWS. 

By  Harwood  Frost,  B.  A.  Sc.— 

BUSINESS  TRAINING  FOR  THE  ENGINEER. 

By  Dr.  Alex.  C.  Humphreys  ......  -  in 


RECORDS. 

By  E.  E.  Howard,  C.  E 


SOME  EDUCATIONAL  PROBLEMS  IN  A  LARGE  UNIVERSITY. 

By  Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff  .................... 

HINTS  TO  STUDENTS  ON  THE  EDUCATION  OF  AN  ENGINEER. 

By  Dr.  Ira  O.  Baker  ....................................................................................  141 


viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

THE  PRACTICAL  ENGINEER. 

By  Onward  Bates,  C.  E 149 

SOME  RELATIONS  OF  THE  ENGINEER  TO  SOCIETY. 

By  Colonel  H.  G.  Prout 159 

THE  COLLEGE  GRADUATE  AS  AN  ENGINEER. 

By  Dr.  Alex.  C.  Humphreys 173 

THE  STUDY  OF  ENGINEERING. 

By     Professor     William     H.     Burr 189 

THE  MAKING  OF  AN  ENGINEER. 

By  M.  J.  Riggs,  C.  E 197 

AMBITION. 

By  Winder  Elwell   Goldsborough,   M.  E. 203 

THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  ENGINEER. 

By  Professor  Henry  S.  Carhart 207 

ENGINEERING  AND  LIFE. 

By  Professor  Frank  H.  Constant 219 

LIMITATIONS  OF  EFFICIENCY  IN  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

By  Dr.  George  Fillmore  Swain 229 

THE  RELATIONS  OF  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  TO  OTHER  BRANCHES  OF  SCIENCE. 

By  Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell 253 

COLLEGE  TRAINING  OF  ELECTRICAL  ENGINEERS. 

By  Professor  Arthur  C.  Scott - 271 

THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION  AND  How  IT  MAY  BE 
IMPROVED. 

By  Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell 279 

THE  ENGINEER'S  DUTY  AS  A  CITIZEN. 

By  Rear  Admiral  Geo.  W.  Melville,  U.   S.  N.,  Ret. 291 

THE  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

By  Walter  C.  Kerr,  M.  E - 299 

KNOWLEDGE  AND  ACTION. 

By  Walter  C.  Kerr,  M.  E 309 

THE  NEXT  STEP. 

By  Walter  C.  Kerr,  M.  E 319 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGE 

COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS. 

By  Dr.  Julian   Kennedy 329 

STUDY  MEN. 

By  John  F.   Hayford,  C.   E : 339 

CRITICISM  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  SCHOOLS. 

By  Professor  Dugald  C.  Jackson 349 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF  THE  SCHOOL  OF  ENGINEERS  AT  THE  UNI- 
VERSITY OF  KANSAS. 

By  Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell 355 

LAST  WORDS  TO  THE  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  SENIORS. 

By  Dr.  Ira  O.  Baker 373 

THE  ENGINEER  AS  A  PROFESSIONAL  MAN. 

By   Nelson   Peter  Lewis,  C.   E 379 

THE  ENGINEER  AND  THE  COMMUNITY. 

By  Dr.  William  McClellan 391 

THE  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  A  MINING  ENGINEER'S  LIFE. 

By  Edmund  B.  Kirby,  E.  M.—  395 

SUCCESS. 

By  Dr.   M.  E.  Cooley 403 

SOME  OF  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  SUCCESS. 

By  Dr.  Chas.  Sumner  Howe 411 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF  THE  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

By  Dr.  J.   A.   L.  Waddell 417 

GRADUATE  STUDY  AND  RESEARCH. 

By  Professor  Chas.  H.  Benjamin 437 

THE  NEED  OF  GRADUATE  COURSES  IN  ENGINEERING. 

By  Hon.  Willard  A.  Smith --443 

HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

By  Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell -  -  449 

CLOSING  LECTURE  TO  SENIOR  CLASS. 

By  Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff--  —469 

THE  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

By  Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff - 473 


THE  PROFESSION  OF  ENGINEER. 

By 
The  Editors. 

Most  young  men  when  entering  technical  schools  have  no  ade- 
quate conception  of  what  the  engineering  profession  really  is.  Many 
of  them  undertake  the  course  either  because  their  parents  desire 
them  to  receive  a  useful  education  or  because  they  think  that  engi- 
neering is  a  good  calling  in  which  to  make  a  living;  but  very  few 
of  them  enter  on  account  of  a  heartfelt  admiration  of  engineering 
as  the  profession  of  progress,  to  which  are  due  practically  all  the 
wonderful  developments  of  the  world  during  the  last  one  hundred 
years — developments  that  have  so  added  to  the  comforts  and  con- 
veniences of  man  as  to  make  life  truly  worth  living  instead  of  a 
burden  grievous  to  be  borne. 

A  perusal  of  the  succeeding  addresses,  of  which  this  book  is  com- 
posed, will  certainly  acquaint  the  reader  with  the  vast  extent,  the 
magnificence,  the  great  achievements,  and  the  wonderful  possibili- 
ties of  the  engineering  profession;  but  such  perusal  would  require 
considerable  time,  and  it  is  important  that  each  entering  freshman 
in  technical  schools  obtain  with  the  least  possible  delay  some  con- 
ception of  the  profession  in  which  he  is  about  to  engage,  hence  the 
Editors  have  prepared  this  short  paper  for  that  purpose. 

The  most  widely  accepted  definition  of  engineering  is  that  of 
Tredgold  made  nearly  a  century  ago,  viz. :  "The  art  of  directing  the 
great  sources  of  power  in  nature  for  the  use  and  convenience  of  man," 
and  it  is  difficult  to  improve  upon  it,  though  numerous  writers  from 
time  to  time  have  made  the  attempt.  Dr.  J.  James  R.  Croes  wrote 
that  "engineering  treats  of  the  intelligent  direction  of  the  laws  gov- 
erning matter,  so  as  to  produce  effects  which  will  reduce  to  a  mini- 
mum the  time  and  physical  labor  required  to  supply  all  the  demands 
of  the  body  of  man  and  leave  more  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of 
the  mental  and  spiritual  faculties."  This,  too,  is  a  good  definition  of 
engineering;  but  it  is  incomplete. 

Another  definition  might  be  given  thus:  "Modern  engineering 
is  a  combination  of  science  and  art  by  which  all  strictly  material  pro- 
ductions that  involve  construction,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  and 
which  are  serviceable  to  mankind,  are  evolved,  designed,  and  material- 
ized." 


2  THE  PROFESSION  OF  ENGINEER. 

To  prepare  a  complete  detailed  statement  of  what  constitutes  the 
entire  field  of  engineering  would  be  a  Herculean  task  that  it  does  not 
appear  wise  to  attempt  in  writing  this  paper;  nevertheless  an  en- 
deavor will  be  made  to  list  as  thoroughly  as  practicable  the  principal 
types  of  construction  and  activity  which  pertain  to  the  different 
branches  of  the  profession. 

Half  a  century  ago  there  were  only  two  divisions  of  engineering 
— civil  and  military,  but  later  the  former  was  divided  into  four  groups, 
and  during  the  last  two  decades  the  tendency  has  been  to  divide  and 
subdivide  the  profession  until  the  representatives  of  each  little  craft 
now  claim  a  specialty  of  their  own.  The  four  groups  referred  to  are 
civil,  mechanical,  electrical,  and  mining  engineering;  but  no  one  of 
them  is  totally  distinct  or  separate  from  the  others,  because  many 
constructions  involve  two  or  more  branches  of  engineering.  For  in- 
stance, the  modern  bridge  with  movable  span,  which  most  people 
would  consider  as  belonging  to  the  realm  of  civil  engineering,  in- 
volves mechanical  engineering  in  the  design  and  construction  of  its 
operating  machinery  and  often  electrical  engineering  in  the  pro- 
duction and  use  of  the  power  required  for  operation.  Again,  in  the 
development  of  a  mine,  which  is  generally  conceded  to  pertain  en- 
tirely to  the  line  of  mining  engineering,  civil  engineering  is  needed 
in  making  the  surveys  both  above  and  below  ground,  in  the  trans- 
portation of  materials  by  intra-mural  railways,  and  in  many  other 
ways;  mechanical  engineering  is  involved  in  designing  the  pumps 
and  other  machinery;  and  electrical  engineering  is  applied  in  the 
production  of  their  operating  power.  In  truth,  all  the  divisions  of 
engineering  are  so  closely  allied  that  it  is  impossible  to  disassociate 
them;  and,  on  this  account,  a  really  up-to-date  engineer,  while 
trained  thoroughly  in  all  that  relates  to  his  special  line  of  work, 
must  have  a  broad,  general  knowledge  of  all  the  other  lines. 

Civil  engineering,  as  understood  today,  includes  all  kinds  of  sur- 
veying from  the  simplest  land  surveying  to  the  complicated  and  ac- 
curate Coast  and  Geodetic  work;  the  design  and  construction  of 
bridges;  extensive  and  difficult  foundations;  tunneling;  retaining 
walls,  sea-walls,  and  other  heavy  masonry ;  viaducts ;  ocean  piers ; 
lighthouses ;  wharves ;  docks ;  river  improvement ;  irrigation  ;  harbors, 
jetties,  and  other  waterways;  levees;  water-supply;  sewerage;  fil- 
tration; treatment  of  refuse;  highway  construction,  including  roads, 
streets,  and  pavements ;  canals ;  dams ;  ordinary  railways  (both  steam 
and  electric);  inclined  cable  railways;  gas-works;  the  general  design 
and  construction  of  all  plants  (steam,  electric,  hydraulic,  and  gas- 
eous) ;  the  general  design  and  construction  of  cranes ;  cableways,  break- 


THE  EDITORS.  3 

ers,  and  other  mining  structures;  the  heavier  structural  features  of 
office  buildings  and  other  large  buildings  that  carry  heavy  loads ;  mill 
buildings ;  the  general  problems  of  transportation,  quarrying,  and 
handling  of  heavy  materials;  reinforced  concrete  constructions  of 
all  kinds;  and  the  testing  of  nearly  all  the  materials  used  in  engi- 
neering practice. 

In  contradistinction,  mechanical  engineering  includes  the  design 
and  construction  of  steam  engines;  gas  and  gasoline  engines;  auto- 
mobiles; locomotives;  aeroplanes;  steamboats;  machine  tools;  hoist- 
ing and  conveying  machinery;  pumps;  turbines;  the  machinery  of 
movable  bridges;  elevators;  cranes  of  the  usual  types;  rolling  mill 
machinery;  blast-furnace  machinery;  and  all  other  machinery  for 
purely  manufacturing  purposes. 

Electrical  engineering  includes  all  kinds  of  electrical  work,  such 
as  the  designing,  construction,  and  operation  of  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone lines ;  the  electrical  portion  of  railways ;  electric  light  plants ; 
dynamos;  motors;  switch-boards;  wiring;  electric  devices  of  all 
kinds ;  transmission  lines ;  cables  (both  marine  and  land)  ;  and  stor- 
age batteries. 

Mining  engineering  includes  shaft-sinking  and  all  other  under- 
ground mining  work;  means  for  handling  the  products  of  mines; 
roasting,  smelting,  milling,  stamping,  and  concentrating  of  ores; 
drainage  and  ventilation  of  mines;  disposal  and  utilization  of  mine 
refuse;  and  similar  problems. 

If  these  items  are  not  sufficiently  numerous,  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  the  engineer  is  beginning  to  monopolize  some  of  the  work  of 
the  architect  and  of  the  chemist,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  design 
and  construction  of  the  main  features  of  large  buildings  and  the  prac- 
tical chemical  work  of  important  manufactories. 

A  perusal  of  the  foregoing  list  of  engineering  works  (which  is 
by  no  means  complete)  ought  to  convince  anyone  concerning  the 
vastness,  grandeur,  and  importance  of  the  engineering  profession. 
Can  its  votaries  be  blamed  for  claiming  that  it  is  by  far  the  most 
important  of  all  the  learned  professions,  that  it  is  also  the  most 
scientific  of  them  all,  and  that  the  wonderful  progress  of  mankind 
during  the  last  half  century  or  more  is  due  essentially  to  the  energy 
and  ability  of  engineers? 

If  each  freshman  student  as  he  enters  his  technical  course  will 
recognize  and  consider  the  wide  field  which  his  chosen  life-work 
covers  and  its  importance  to  the  human  race,  one  of  two  things  will 
happen — either  he  will  be  so  discouraged  as  utterly  to  lose  heart,  or 
he  will  be  aroused  to  enthusiasm  and,  in  consequence,  will  courage- 


4  THE  PROFESSION  OF  ENGINEER, 

ously  and  firmly  determine  to  do  his  best  to  make  himself  a  worthy 
member  of  the  engineering  profession.  In  the  first  eventuality  he 
will  do  well  to  drop  out  of  the  race  at  once,  because  every  successful 
engineer  is  of  necessity  a  man  of  courage,  and  because  weaklings  are 
not  wanted  in  engineering;  but  in  the  second,  if  he  continue  firm  in 
his  resolve,  his  studies  and  work  will  soon  become  a  true  pleasure 
to  him,  and,  barring  accident,  he  will  be  practically  certain  eventually 
to  attain  as  great  a  professional  success  as  his  personal  ability  and 
limitations  will  permit. 


ADVICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 
By 

Francis  C.  Shenehon. 

Dean  Shenehon,  of  the  College  of  Engineering  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Minnesota,  very  kindly  offered  the  following  paper,  pre- 
viously given  by  him  as  a  lecture  to  the  Freshmen  of  that  institution ; 
and  the  Editors  feel  truly  grateful  to  him  for  his  courtesy  and  valuable 
assistance.  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  papers  of  the  book  for 
the  entering  Freshmen,  as  it  tells  them  what  they  may  wisely  do 
and  what  they  should  not  do  during  their  course.  Any  student  who 
follows  Dean  Shenehon's  advice  is  certain  to  profit  greatly  thereby,  hence, 
it  is  hoped  that  our  readers  will  pay  special  attention  to  this  paper. 

Editors. 


ADVICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 
By 

Francis  C.  Shenehon, 

Dean  of  the  College  of  Engineering, 

University  of  Minnesota. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Freshman  Class: 

A  custom  has  become  established  here  which  makes  it  the  duty 
of  the  Dean  of  the  College  of  Engineering  to  call  together  the  fresh- 
men early  in  the  year,  in  order  that  matters  which  are  vital  to 
success  in  college  work  may  be  clearly  presented  to  them  at  the  out- 
set. 

In  compliance  with  this  custom  we  are  together  to-day,  and  it 
is  my  great  pleasure  to  welcome  you  and  to  begin  to  know  you.  Prim- 
arily, I  want  to  congratulate  you  upon  your  choice  of  a  profession  and 
upon  your  great  chance  in  life.  It  is  only  a  chance,  an  opportunity, 
thus  far.  You  have  won  entrance  to  this  College — that  means  up  to 
now  work  well  done.  Undertaking  work  in  the  College  of  Engineer- 
ing shows  courage,  for  only  strong  men  knowingly  enter  here  where  the 
portion  is  man's  work.  No  mollycoddles  may  hope  to  prosper  here. 
You  have  entered  a  course  so  strenuous  that  success  in  it  will  call  for 
every  fiber  of  manliness  you  possess — all  your  pluck  and  endurance. 
You  are,  therefore,  a  body  of  picked  men,  each  one  of  whom  has  the 
rare  opportunity  of  completing  the  course  and  of  taking  up  the  prac- 
tice of  the  most  virile  of  the  professions — that  of  Engineer. 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  tell  you  frankly  at  the  outset  that  the  task  be- 
fore you  is  not  child's  play  or  boy's  work,  because  if  any  one  of  you 
does  not  thrill  at  the  prospect  of  a  stiff  fight  or  of  a  swift  race,  he  is 
not  of  such  stuff  as  Engineers  are  made  of — he  is  not  in  the  right  group. 
It  is  fine  to  be  strong  enough  to  conquer  and  swift  enough  to  win; 
but  the  strength  needed  -is  not  all  brute  strength — far  from  that — and 
the  swiftness  is  not  all  speed.  There  is  an  element  of  persistence  in 
winning  a  race,  and  an  element  of  skill  in  conquering.  You  have  al- 
ready given  evidence  of  your  ability  to  conquer  and  to  win,  and  you 
will  succeed,  provided  your  path  trends  aright,  and  provided  you  keep 
eternally  moving. 

A  college  education  is  the  privilege  of  but  few  men.  About  one 
man  is  college-bred  to  eight  hundred  who  are  not.  This  makes  the 
distinction  a  high  distinction,  and  I  trust  each  man  here  will  resolve  to 


8  AD  V ICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 

go  on  unswervingly  to  the  commencement  day  that  will  place  him  in  this 
privileged  class  of  college-bred  men.  It  is  a  long  distance  through 
life.  Many  of  you  have  fifty  years  of  the  journey  yet  before  you. 
Do  you  not  think  these  many  years  will  be  sweeter  and  fuller  to  you  if 
you  carry  the  consciousness  of  adequate  educational  training?  Do 
you  not  think  you  will  be  better  citizens,  more  helpful  to  your  own  kin, 
to  your  community,  and  to  your  country?  Do  you  not  think  that  trained 
hands  and  minds  will  enable  you  to  raise  in  some  measure  the  well- 
being  of  the  many  who  have  not  the  training  which  the  present  prom- 
ises you? 

I  wish  to  place  much  stress  upon  the  value  of  the  chance  now 
yours,  because  I  want  you  to  make  the  most  of  it.  You  must  make 
good,  you  must  realize  the  hopes  for  you  of  those  at  home,  you 
must  make  worth  while  the  sacrifice  made  by  your  people  for  you.  Do 
not  disappoint  the  mother  and  father.  Live  up  to  what  the  neighbors 
expect  of  you,  and  graduate  with  honor.  Do  you  know  that  out  of 
a  freshman  class  of  a  hundred  men,  on  an  average  only  forty  graduate 
while  sixty  drop  out  for  one  reason  or  another?  Resolve  that  you  are 
in  the  game  to  the  end,  and  that  you  will  not  quit. 

You  have  doubtless  heard  that  Minnesota  plays  football.  The 
Maroon  and  Gold  has  a  splendid  chain  of  victories  on  the  gridiron.  The 
games  will  be  on  soon,  and  you  will  glory  in  the  wonderful  work, 
the  speed,  skill,  and  endurance  of  the  team.  Each  man  is  working  like 
a  tiger  to  maintain  the  prestige  and  honor  of  the  University.  The  rally- 
ing cry  of  our  athletics  is  "Minnesota  never  quits!"  Make  that 
your  own  battle  cry  as  you  proceed  in  your  college  work,  not  in  the 
field  alone,  but  in  your  studies,  in  the  class  room,  and  in  life.  When 
you  feel  disheartened  and  weary  of  the  eternal  grind  of  human  en- 
deavor, grit  your  teeth  and  say  "Minnesota  never  quits."  The  world 
cannot  defeat  a  man  who  lives  up  to  that  obligation. 

I  wish  you  would  note  the  fact  that  I  am  addressing  you, 
not  as  boys  but  as  men.  You  are  treated  here  as  men.  You 
have  been  passing  through  various  stages  of  evolution,  but  now  for  the 
first  time,  so  far  as  your  schooling  is  concerned,  the  obligations  and 
responsibility  of  manhood  rest  squarely  on  your  shoulders.  The  first 
stage  of  the  educational  journey  is  upon  the  low  level  plain  of  the 
grade  schools,  and  the  peculiarity  about  the  travel  across  this  plain  is 
that  it  is  compulsory.  The  law  compels  parents  to  give  their  children 
this  part.  The  state  wants  her  people  to  have  at  least  that  amount  of 
education,  the  rudimentary  part,  to  avoid  gross  ignorance  and  the  result- 
ing evils  to  the  social  structure.  You  are  compelled  to  go  on  with  it 
whether  you  wish  or  not.  If  you  do  not  behave  yourselves,  if  you  do 


SHENEHON.  9 

not  study,  you  are  disciplined,  but  you  have  got  to  go  on  just  the  same. 
Now,  the  second  stage  is  somewhat  higher.  You  are  on  ground  that 
overlooks  the  first  low  plain.  This  is  the  High  School,  and  here 
also  it  is  desirable  that  you  go  on  and  graduate.  It  is  desirable  that 
you  graduate  from  High  School  whether  you  have  the  distinctive  mental 
characteristics  or  character  that  will  give  you  the  highest  success  in 
life  as  a  professional  man,  or  not.  The  average  citizen — and  any  citi- 
zen— is  better  off  for  his  High  School  course,  and  therefore  the  policy 
of  the  state  and  of  the  city  is  to  urge  men  to  go  on  with  this  part  of 
their  educational  training.  After  you  have  passed  over  this  plain  and 
have  entered  the  University,  you  have  stepped  up  to  a  high  tableland 
where  the  conditions  are  very  unlike  those  in  the  two  thickly  populated 
plains  which  you  see  spread  out  below  you.  On  the  two  lower  plains 
you  were  first  the  child  and  then  the  boy,  and  now  you  have  reached  this 
splendid  tableland  where  the  air  is  clear  and  invigorating,  and  you  are 
the  man.  Most  of  your  school  mates  of  the  earlier  school  days  are  not 
here.  The  wage-earning  activities  of  life  have  absorbed  them.  They 
have  taken  up  the  burden  of  men,  but  have  missed  your  special  privilege 
of  dwelling  for  some  years  in  the  rare  atmosphere  of  the  academic 
plateau. 

Now,  whenever  anyone  has  a  privilege,  he  has  something  which 
exists  only  at  the  expense  of  others.  We  have  heard  much  of  the 
special  privileges  enjoyed  by  manufacturers,  who  are  favored  by  tariff 
schedules  which  enrich  them  but  leave  the  masses  poor  indeed ;  we 
have  heard  of  corporations  whose  special  privileges  in  the  form  of 
municipal  franchises  for  gas  or  street  car  traffic  make  great  dividends 
for  them  at  the  expense  of  the  people.  Your  special  privilege  is  that  you 
are  becoming  mentally  enriched  and  equipped  with  professional  training 
— at  the  expense  of  the  state.  Well,  the  state,  so  far  as  its  money  is  con- 
cerned, is  made  up  of  people;  and  all  the  people  of  the  state  who  are 
property  owners  are  paying  your  expenses.  Your  townspeople,  your 
neighbors,  are  paying  good  serviceable,  sacrificial  dollars,  that  you  may 
have  the  special  privilege  of  these  years  of  training  to  make  you  abler 
citizens.  It  does  not  follow  that  there  is  any  immorality  or  unfairness 
in  the  special  privilege  which  the  state  has  conferred  upon  you.  That 
depends  upon  whether  you  do  your  work  and  accomplish  the  results 
aimed  at  in  conferring  upon  you  the  privilege.  For  example,  a  street 
car  company  in  a  great  city  holding  a  valuable  franchise  for  the  use 
of  the  city  streets,  may  give  such  excellent  service  at  minimum  rates 
that  the  special  privilege  (which  another  company  might  use  to  loot 
the  public)  becomes  a  special  blessing.  The  tax  is  returned  to  the 
people  with  interest.  If  you  regard  your  special  privilege  to  expend 


10  ADVICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 

the  money  of  the  people  of  the  state  for  your  education  as  a  trust  im- 
posed upon  you,  and  if  you  return  at  the  end  a  capable,  serviceable, 
educated  Engineer,  the  investment  has  been  worth  while,  and  your 
special  privilege  has  been  transmuted  to  a  special  blessing. 

Your  relation  to  the  state  is,  therefore,  such  that  an  implied  con- 
tract exists.  The  state  says:  "In  consideration  of  John  Doe's  doing 
each  year  certain  work  in  accordance  with  the  specifications  of  the 
University  of  Minnesota,  which  will  convert  him  into  a  competently 
trained  Engineer,  the  state  will  expend  upon  him  three  hundred 
dollars  per  annum  for  the  term  of  five  years,  etc."  If  you  fail  to  do 
your  part  in  this  contract,  of  course  the  state  cancels  the  agreement, 
you  lose  your  special  privilege  and  leave  the  University.  You  must 
understand  that  the  petty  fees  paid  by  you  do  not  care  for  a  fifth  part 
of  the  cost  of  your  education. 

I  am  stating  this  business  relation  between  you  and  the  state  in 
considerable  detail,  because  you  are  men,  and  will  feel  the  obligation 
of  a  business  agreement.  Your  professional  life  will  be  made  up  of 
agreements  and  fulfillments,  and  you  will  wish  to  begin  your  life  as  an 
honorable  business  man  by  meeting  your  obligations  squarely  here  at  the 
outset.  Where  a  man  receives  money  from  his  people  for  his  living  and 
other  expenses,  a  second  implied  contract  exists  with  his  people,  to  per- 
form his  work  so  as  to  do  credit  to  them. 

You  must  understand  that  while  our  Engineers  on  the  Campus  are 
earnest,  strenuous  workers  for  the  most  part,  now  and  again  men  appear 
without  the  business  perception  to  live  up  to  their  contract.  For  these 
we  have  a  pneumatic  gun  into  which  they  are  gently  loaded  and  tossed 
into  the  uttermost  realms  of  thin  air.  Do  you  remember  the  projectile 
which  Jules  Verne  conceived  for  the  trip  from  the  earth  to  the  moon? 
That  had  water  compartments,  as  I  recollect  it,  with  collapsing  bulk- 
heads to  absorb  the  starting  shock.  Well,  our  projectile  has  no  col- 
lapsing bulkheads. 

It  will  be  well  for  you  to  understand  the  organization  of  the  Uni- 
versity, its  parts  and  their  relations,  its  administration,  and  the  attitude 
of  the  members  of  the  faculty  toward  you.  The  University  is  now  a 
complex  organization  of  ten  colleges.  In  the  beginning  the  whole 
University  was  made  up  of  a  single  college,  with  a  President  but  no 
Deans.  As  it  grew  larger  it  separated  into  Colleges,  each  college  or- 
ganized much  like  the  original  unit.  The  Deans  are  the  executive  heads 
of  the  Colleges,  while  the  President  is  the  'Chief  Executive  of  the 
University.  Of  course  there  is  a  business  department  for  the  handling 
of  moneys,  the  purchase  of  supplies,  and  for  keeping  the  accounts ; 
then  there  is  the  Registrar  who  keeps  the  student  records ;  and  a  Super- 


SEEN  EH  ON.  11 

intendent  of  Buildings  and  Grounds.     Above  all  are  the  Regents,  who 
meet  about  once  a  month  and  act  as  the  Directors. 

The  College  of  Arts  ranks  first  in  seniority  and  the  College  of  En- 
gineering second.  Within  the  College  of  Engineering  are  the  various 
departments,  as  the  Civil  Department,  the  Mechanical  Department,  the 
Drawing  Department;  and  each  department  has  its  head  and  its  asso- 
ciates. Now  the  Faculty  exists  to  direct  you,  to  instruct  you,  and  to 
serve  you  in  every  way  it  may,  to  the  end  which  the  state  has  in 
view  in  educating  you.  It  may  astonish  you  to  find  out  how  kindly  each 
member  of  the  Faculty  feels  toward  you.  Each  member  is  a  friend  and 
an  older  brother.  You  will  have  every  consideration  as  men;  you  will 
be  treated  with  justice  always,  patience  generally,  and  malice  never. 
You  must  reciprocate  and  be  kindly  and  considerate,  just  in  your  judg- 
ments always,  vindictive  and  revengeful  never.  Sometimes  you  will  not 
view  things  as  your  instructor  does.  In  such  cases  you  must  be  open- 
minded  enough  to  feel  that  when  your  judgment  conflicts  with  that  of 
your  instructor,  the  chances  are  that  the  older  man  is  right  and  that  the 
younger  man  is  wrong.  This  is  not  always  so.  Age  does  not  make 
men  infallible.  When  you  feel  certain  you  are  right,  discuss  your  case 
good  temperedly  and  fairly  with  your  instructor,  showing  him  the  re- 
spect that  is  paid  a  judge  in  a  con^t  of  law.  You  always  have  the  right 
of  appeal  to  the  Dean  of  the  College. 

The  Dean  is  your  special  counselor.    He  expects  you  to  bring  your 
troubles  and  perplexities  to  him  for  advice  and  untangling.     In  mat- 
ters of  College  affairs  or  of  life  you  may  expect  a  sympathetic  hearing. 
I  am  aware  'that  life  sometimes  takes  on  a  somber  tone  with  young  men, 
things  go  awry,  conduct  sometimes  goes  wrong,  the  threads  get  badly 
snarled.    Sometimes  a  profound  gloom  invades  a  man's  mind.    Youth  is 
not  wholly  blithe  and  shot  with  sunshine.     But  those  who  have  passed 
through  periods  of  depression  know  that  things  eventually  prove  not 
^so  irretrievable  as  they  seemed.    After  a  mistake  it  is  well  to  remember  i 
"That  men  may  rise  on  stepping-stones 
Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things." 

Should    a    midnight    fog    settle    down    upon    any    one    of    you,    grope 
your  way  to  my  office  and  let  me  try  a  few  rays  of  sense  and  sanity. 

A  story  is  told  of  a  man  who  was  stopping  in  a  country  hotel  where 
the  partitions  were  thin  and  the  floors  uncarpeted,  and  he  was  kept 
awake  up  to  mid-night  by  a  man  in  the  next  room  who  was  pacing  up 
and  down.  The  annoyance  finally  became  so  great  that  he  got  up  and 
knocked  on  the  stranger's  door  and  said  to  him,  "My  friend,  you  seem 
to  be  in  some  trouble."  And  the  reply  came  in  an  agitated  voice  "Yes, 
I  am;  I  owe  a  man,  due  tomorrow,  one  hundred  dollars  and  I  cannot 


12  ADVICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 

pay  him."  "Well,"  said  the  man,  "you  would  better  go  to  bed  and  let 
the  other  man  walk"  Now,  while  that  was  not  a  full  solution  of  the 
stranger's  difficulty,  it  let  a  little  sane  sunlight  in  upon  the  situation. 
The  man  to  whom  the  money  was  due,  perhaps,  was  the  proper  man 
to  worry  under  those  conditions,  although  I  do  not  wish  you  to  infer 
from  this  that  the  obligation  did  not  have  its  worriment. 

The  Faculty  of  the  College  is  a  legislative  body  made  up  of 
all  professors  and  instructors.  It  deals  with  the  construction  of 
the  curriculum,  the  formulation  of  rules  and  regulations,  student  dis- 
cipline, and  many  other  matters.  Its  decisions  are  wise  in  the  main,  and 
it  gives  full  hearings  in  cases  of  importance.  The  Faculty  has  its  com- 
mittees like  all  legislative  bodies,  the  Enrollment  Committee  which  you 
have  met,  the  Student  Work  Committee  which  you  are  likely  to  meet, 
and  several  others. 

Remember  that  the  Faculty  is  anxious  to  keep  here  and  graduate 
every  worthy  man  of  you.  Our  College  is  stronger,  more  impor- 
tant, when  we  have  greater  numbers.  Growth  indicates  a  successful 
college  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  judge  us.  But  we  are  more  inter- 
ested in  putting  the  brand  of  Engineer  and  Minnesota  only  on  men 
whose  work  and  character  are  such  that  they  will  reflect  credit  upon  us. 
We  must  stand  for  quality — honor  and  competence — first,  numbers  af- 
terward. 

We  all,  and  the  Student  Work  Committee  in  particular,  are 
anxious  to  keep  every  man  in  his  class  shoulder-to-shoulder  with  his 
mates.  If  you  get  behind  in  a  subject,  you  are  a  cripple,  you  are  not 
keeping  step  with  the  procession.  It  gives  us  trouble.  We  must  con- 
sider you  and  doctor  you.  For  this  reason  you  may  see  that  we  pre- 
fer to  give  you  a  passing  mark — it  is  easier  for  the  Faculty.  But  we 
are  charged  by  the  state  with  the  obligation  to  give  no  credits,  except 
as  they  are  fairly  earned.  You  may  rest  assured  of  one  thing.  We  will 
not  cripple  you,  to  penalize  you.  Our  penalties  will  be  constructive, 
not  destructive.  Since  this  corps  must  march  in  a  body,  it  would  not 
be  good  generalship  to  shoot  a  man's  leg  off  when  he  flags.  We  will 
prod  him  with  a  bayonet  and  urge  him  to  keep  up.  If,  however, 
he  does  not  keep  up,  he  must  join  the  troublesome  crippled  squad. 
This  squad  is  a  burden  on  the  College ;  and  our  constructive  policy  is 
to  keep  it  as  small  as  possible.  Do  you  know  that  in  war  time  the 
wounded  are  a  greater  burden  than  the  dead?  The  dead  may  be 
buried,  but  the  wounded  must  have  medical  attention,  nursing,  and 
protection.  Keep  out  of  the  crippled  squad. 

Now,  I  am  going  to  give  you  a  term  to  express  the  kind  of  men  we 
desire  as  a  product  of  this  college.  We  want  "thorough-breds,"  and  I 


SHENEHON.  13 

wish  to  tell  you  what  a  thorough-bred  is  as  I  mean  it.  Perhaps  I  can 
do  this  most  quickly  by  telling  a  story.  Governor  Odell  of  New  York 
related  it.  He  said  he  was  out  hunting  with  his  father  one  day,  and 
they  had  with  them  an  Irish  setter  which  was  a  thorough-bred,  and 
had  also  a  yellow  dog.  His  father  picked  up  the  yellow  dog  by  the 
nape  of  the  neck  and  held  it  out  at  arm's  length,  and  the  yellow  dog 
whined  piteously.  He  dropped  it  and  picked  up  the  Irish  setter.  The 
setter  hung  there  with  never  a  whimper.  He  said,  "My  son,  that 
is  the  difference  between  a  thorough-bred  and  a  yellow  cur."  Now, 
what  the  thorough-bred  had  was  courage,  self-control.  It  certainly  hurt 
him  just  as  much  as  it  did  the  yellow  cur,  but  he  did  not  whimper;  and 
self-control  is  the  one  thing  that  will  let  a  man  win  out  in  life. 

You  are  all  familiar  with  the  fact  that  each  one  of  us,  each  man, 
is  made  up  of  two  personalities.  You  probably  have  all,  or  most  of 
you,  read  Stevenson's  story  of  Dr.  Jekyl  and  Mr.  Hyde.  Each  of  us 
is  made  up  of  the  fundamental  instinctive  animal  part  which  wishes  to 
do  things  whether  they  are  fair  or  not,  and  the  regulative  controlling 
part  or  personality,  which  we  really  think  of  as  the  "I".  When  you  did 
not  mean  to  do  a  thing,  but  you  did  it  just  the  same,  you  were  con- 
trolled by  the  beast,  the  brutal  part  of  your  make-up.  The  man  who 
has  himself  in  control  is  simply  the  man  whose  higher  personality,  the 
actual  ego,  rules  the  lower  personality,  rules  the  beast.  It  is  a  good 
thing  to  have  a  strong  beast  in  you.  That  may  be  an  element  of  strength 
in  your  character.  The  beast  is  the  motive  power.  It  is  the  thing 
that  drives,  but  the  higher  personality  must  have  this  beast  by  the  throat, 
absolutely  control  him,  and  make  him  do  his  work.  In  controlling 
your  primal  power  you  are  first  learning  the  work  of  the  engineer. 
Now  the  engineer  by  definition  is  one  who  directs  the  forces  of  nature 
to  the  uses  of  man,  and  this  powerful  primative  physical  endowment 
is  one  of  the  forces  of  nature  which  every  engineer  must  learn  to  con- 
trol and  direct  early  in  his  career,  else  his  career  will  not  carry  him 
to  great  usefulness  in  life. 

Now,  you  young  men  have  come  from  the  rural  districts,  pos- 
sibly the  farm,  or  else  from  the  city.  From  whichever  of  these 
two  places  you  have  come,  you  have  an  element  of  strength  in 
that  fact.  The  man  who  comes  from  the  farm  brings  with  him  the 
strong  skeleton,  the  brawny  muscles,  the  sound  nerve,  and  the  sane 
view  of  things  which  is  characteristic  of  those  not  too  many  genera- 
tions removed  from  the  soil.  On  the  other  hand,  the  man  from  the 
city  has  the  strength  of  finesse  which  comes  from  the  urban  life  with 
its  more  complex  relations  and  higher  conveniences,  and  he  comes  also 
possibly  from  a  generation  or  two  of  men  who  have  used  their  brains 


14  ADVICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 

rather  more  than  their  hands  for  a  livelihood.  A  generation  of  brain- 
workers  makes  furrows  in  the  brain  that  help  the  generation  which 
follows.  To  have  had  in  the  background  of  your  ancestry  some  pro- 
fessional men  may  make  your  college  work  easier,  and  if  you  carry 
yourself  aright  you  have  on  that  account  higher  chances  of  ultimate 
success;  but  I  want  to  warn  the  man  who  comes  from  the  city,  with 
his  possibly  smoother  ways  and  more  urbane  manners,  that  unless  he 
absorbs  the  strength,  the  good  health,  and  the  calm  poise  which  the  man 
from  the  farm  brings  with  him,  he  is  not  going  to  compete  successfully 
with  the  man  from  the  farm.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  I  want  to  warn 
the  man  who  comes  from  the  farm  that  unless  he  can  gather  to  him- 
self something  of  the  urbane  characteristics  of  the  man  I  have  been 
speaking  about,  in  the  competition  of  professional  life  he  may  not  win 
the  highest  rewards.  It  follows  that  of  the  two  classes  of  men,  farm 
bred  or  city  bred,  each  has  an  advantage  of  his  own  at  the  outset; 
and  in  the  end  the  successful  man,  the  man  who  will  win  our  highest 
admiration,  is  the  one  who  can  blend  strength  and  polish.  It  is  the 
mailed  fist  under  the  glove  of  velvet. 

Returning  to  the  use  of  the  word  "thorough-bred"  which  I  wish  to 
be  thickly  strewn  throughout  this  talk,  I  want  to  say  that  the  kind  of 
thorough-bred  I  am  talking  about  is  not  of  distinguished  lineage.  I  do 
not  mean  men  whose  ancestors  came  over  on .  the  Mayflower, — be- 
cause it  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  ocean  liners  of  to-day  offer  better 
facilities  for  crossing  to  our  shores, — but  I  mean  men  who,  when  they 
leave  our  institution,  have  this  combination  of  strength  and  urbanity. 

Now,  there  are  certain  things  in  your  college  course  which  I  wish 
to  bring  into  high  prominence.  An  engineer  in  his  direction  of  the 
forces  of  nature  is  an  expert  mathematician,  applying  to  useful  ends 
his  mathematical  attainments.  The  backbone  of  the  engineer  is  mathe- 
matics ;  and  you  men,  if  you  are  going  to  succeed  in  your  college  course, 
must  get  a  firm  grip  on  your  mathematics,  and  clear  up  everything  as 
you  go  along.  To  get  behind  in  mathematics  is  fatal.  Other 
courses  depend  on  it.  Your  Physics  of  the  Sophomore  year  and  your 
Mechanics  which  comes  later  require  higher  mathematics  as  a  pre- 
requisite. If  you  have  failed  to  pass  or  are  conditioned  in  your  mathe- 
matics, you  are  at  a  serious  disadvantage;  and  I  advise  you  in  the 
strongest  terms  to  get  your  mathematics  right.  You  are  building  a 
pyramid,  and  in  the  first  course  of  masonry  lies  your  Freshman  Mathe- 
matics. You  cannot  lay  your  second  course  of  masonry  until  the  first 
course  is  completed.  The  Sophomore  Mathematics  is  in  the  second 
course  of  masonry,  and  on  top  of  this  comes  Physics,  and  another  course 
is  Mechanics.  Bye  and  bye  you  get  to  the  upper  levels  of  the  pyramid 


SHENEHON.  15 

wherein  your  structural  work,  your  bridge  design,  your  machine  design, 
are  the  masonry  courses.  But  you  cannot  lay  these  upper  courses,  and 
you  cannot  do  your  work  in  life  as  an  Engineer,  unless  the  bottom 
courses  form  a  safe  and  adequate  foundation.  If  by  chance  you  should 
be  conditioned  in  mathematics, — and  quite  a  few  men  are — make  it  your 
first  duty  in  life  to  get  that  condition  off.  Do  not  let  the  thing  run  on. 
Do  not  let  it  stand.  One  of  the  delightful  characteristics  of  youth  is 
to  put  off  unpleasant  things,  but  the  thorough-bred  we  have  been  talk- 
ing about  does  the  thing,  and  does  it  now.  In  case  you  should  be  so 
unfortunate  as  to  get  a  condition  hi  mathematics,  work  it  off  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Now,  I  have  spoken  first  of  mathematics  because  it  is  of  preemi- 
nent importance,  but  I  want  you  to  consider  that  the  maintenance  of  the 
highest  scholarship  is  incumbent  upon  you  in  all  your  studies. 

It  is  incumbent  on  Engineers  to  become  versatile,  cultivated  men. 
If  we  cheapen  ourselves  by  avoiding  or  slurring  those  subjects  which 
educate  us  as  men,  because  we  cannot  see  that  they  aid  us  as  bread- 
winners, our  profession  is  but  little  more  than  a  trade.  We  will  receive 
lower  money  returns  than  lawyers  and  surgeons,  and  our  opportunity 
for  high  service  will  be  lessened. 

Because  our  profession  has  so  recently  emerged  from  the  trades, 
our  culture  is  questioned.  Many  people  do  not  distinguish  between  a 
locomotive  engineer,  and  a  Mechanical  Engineer.  If  you  are  satis- 
fied with  the  wages  of  a  trade,  you  will  not  need  to  speak  and  write 
clearly  and  effectively,  you  do  not  need  to  study  English  and  German 
or  French — but  you  cannot  graduate  at  Minnesota!  This  is  not  a 
trade  school  but  a  professional  school.  You  will  need  to  do  just  as 
conscientious  work  in  Rhetoric  and  Language  as  in  your  technical 
studies.  We  want  Minnesota  Engineers  to  reach  the  high  ranks  of  the 
profession,  and  not  pass  through  life  as  subordinates.  You  will  be 
useful  men  as  subordinates,  but  there  is  something  more  useful 
and  better.  You  find  it  hard  to  believe  that  language  studies  will  help 
you  as  Engineers,  but  take  this  on  faith  now,  and  make  your  scholar- 
ship excellent  in  them.  That  these  will  count,  accept  as  expert  judgment. 

Your  studies  come  first  in  importance  but  there  are  outside  activities 
which  are  alluring  and  useful.  I  shall  advise  you  to  have  some  part  in 
them,  but  always  under  the  limitation  that  you  have  kept  your  scholar- 
ship high.  But  this  high  scholarship  that  I.  ask  of  you  will  not  be 
realized  unless  you  have  a  clear  comprehension  of  yourself  as  a  cutting 
mechanism.  You  cannot  expect  a  dull  tool  to  do  keen  cutting,  and  you 
cannot  expect  a  dull  mind  to  do  easily  and  rapidly  the  scholastic  work 
presented  to  you  young  men.  You  should  find  out  early  in  the  day  how 


16  ADVICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 

to  keep  this  beast  that  I  have  spoken  of  in  high,  vigorous  condition,  and 
how  to  keep  this  controlling  will  in  high,  fine  condition  also. 

First  of  all,  keep  yourself  in  good  physical  trim.  You  must 
have  enough  to  eat.  You  must  eat  wholesome  things.  You  can 
not  expect  such  an  engine  as  you  are  to  do  work  without  the 
proper  fuel.  Then  you  must  get  the  proper  sleep.  Do  not  let  any  fairy 
tales  about  Napoleon's  capacity  for  work  on  six  hours'  sleep  lead  you 
to  burn  too  much  midnight  oil,  because  the  more  accurate  historical  fact 
is  that  Napoleon  needed  his  eight  hours'  sleep  the  same  as  the  rest  of 
us  men.  Consequently,  get  your  regulation  sleep,  and  your  brains  will 
be  sharp  like  cutting  instruments.  I  read  in  a  magazine  not  long  ago 
that  there  is  a  physiological  reason  why  a  man  must  have  his  eight 
hours'  sleep  as  a  minimum.  I  will  not  vouch  for  its  scientific  accuracy, 
but  I  give  you  the  statement  as  I  read  it.  During  the  waking  hours  the 
high  activities  of  body  and  brain  create  certain  impurities  in  the  blood 
which  act  as  narcotics,  or  drugs  on  the  brain.  In  the  end  this  pro- 
duces sleep.  Before  the  sleeping  condition  comes  there  ensues  a  tired 
feeling,  and  that  tired  feeling  simply  means  that  you  have  an  excess 
of  poison  in  your  system.  Your  brain  will  not  work  well  under  this 
condition,  and  you  should  not  expect  it  to,  any  more  than  if  you  had 
taken  a  drug,  and  the  drug  was  influencing  you  toward  weariness  and 
sleep.  During  the  night  time,  the  brain  being  at  rest  and  the  muscles. 
at  rest,  the  lungs  go  on  pumping  and  the  blood  taking  on  oxygen,  the 
poisoned  condition  disappears,  and  the  man  awakens  full  of  vigor  with 
a  keen-edged  mind.  You  gentlemen  will  be  just  as  foolish  if  you  do 
not  get  this  full  amount  of  sleep  as  you  would  be  to  work  and  ex- 
pect to  accomplish  good  results  with  a  dull  tool. 

You  need  some  exercise,  and  that  has  been  provided  for  the 
most  part,  in  your  drill ;  but  you  ought  to  get  out  and  breathe  the  open 
air  some  minutes  or  an  hour  daily;  and  you  ought  to  absorb  the  sun- 
shine into  your  blood  and  get  the  wind  into  your  pulses,  in  order  to 
keep  yourself  in  the  best  possible  condition.  If,  however,  you  overdo 
tli is  matter  of  physical  exercise,  you  use  up  the  energy  which  you  need 
for  proper  study.  Therefore,  the  rule  for  exercise  is  "Not  in  excess, 
just  in  moderation."  Now,  the  beast  in  us  would  wish  to  carry  exer- 
cise to  excess  because  it  is  sweet  to  the  physical  sensation,  but  the  con- 
trolling power  which  marks  the  thorough-bred  will  not  permit  this,  as 
it  will  not  permit  any  excess.  Even  in  matters  of  eating,  things  taste 
so  good  that  it  is  pretty  difficult  to  eat  with  the  moderation  that  is 
best,  and  here  again  the  controlling  personality  of  the  thorough-bred 
will  regulate.  A  man  can  be  just  as  much  of  a  sot  in  his  eating  as  some 
men  are  in  their  drinking. 


S HEN EH ON.  17 

I  am  not  going  to  say  much  to  you  young  men  about  drinking,  be- 
cause I  am  certain  it  is  not  necessary.  We  business  men  look  upon  a 
man  who  drinks  as  a  fool,  as  a  yellow  cur.  The  "whiskey  breath" 
warrants  discharge  from  a  man's  position  in  many  corporations  in  this 
country,  and  it  discredits  a  man  almost  everywhere.  As  you  young 
men  by  coming  to  this  University  have  g^ven  evidence  of  intelligence, 
I  trust  you  have  no  illusions  as  to  there  being  anything  manly  about 
drinking.  I  give  you  my  full  assurance  that,  acting  as  the  employer  of 
many  young  civil  engineers,  I  never  advanced  a  man  in  salary  or  posi- 
tion who  I  knew  had  any  drinking  tendencies  whatever.  Having  under 
my  direction  several  steamers,  I  have  not  permitted  on  any  of  those 
vessels  liquor  anywhere;  and  I  have  done  this  not  from  any  fanatical 
dread  of  liquor  but  simply  because  it  was  good  business  to  exclude  it. 
The  intelligence  of  the  man  who  uses  liquor  is  questionable.  We  do 
not  expect  much  from  a  man  of  that  kind.  Drinking  is  simply  stupidity. 
A  man  whose  brain  is  active  does  not  need  alcoholic  stimulation. 

Gambling  is  another  thing  which  reveals  a  pauper  mind.  Men 
gamble  for  excitement.  A  dull  brain  which  cannot  find  interest  in  the 
normal  wholesome  games  and  contests  of  life,  must  needs  accent  the 
excitement  by  money  venture.  Surely  for  young  men  full  of  the  en- 
thusiasm of  youth,  with  young  pulses  and  minds  keen  for  interest  in  the 
kaleidoscopic  life  of  the  Campus,  it  is  not  necessary  to  indulge  in  vic- 
ious things,  or  things  that  would  make  them  less  worthy  in  the 
eyes  of  their  townsmen  and  townswomen,  in  the  eyes  of  the  mothers 
and  fathers.  Get  your  pleasure  in  wholesome  ways  that  refresh  but 
do  not  demoralize. 

In  my  life  as  an  Engineer  on  the  frontier,  at  the  end  of  a  railroad 
line  under  construction,  where  all  sorts  of  adventurers  preyed  on 
the  wages  of  the  laborers,  I  have  seen  professional  gamblers  at  work. 
I  know  how  dishonest  the  games  are  and  how  degrading  and  pauperizing 
the  practice  is.  In  a  railroad  terminal  I  have  seen  men  cheat  in  a 
game  where  detection  would  have  meant  death.  I  have  seen  adven- 
turous young  men  leave  their  money  there.  I  have  never  seen  any 
consecutive  winnings. 

I  am  not  going  to  do  more  than  to  touch  on  the  social  evil.  It  is 
a  loathsome  thing,  repellant  to  clean  men.  I  hope  you  will  attend 
the  special  lectures  on  this  subject  to  inform  yourselves  of  the  danger 
of  any  dalliance  whatsoever.  I  trust  the  daintiness  of  healthy  youth 
will  steer  you  clear  of  the  pest  houses  which  are  sometimes  a  lure  to 
unintelligent  inquisitive  young  men. 


18  AD  V ICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 

As  for  tobacco,  I  would  advise  you  to  defer  smoking  until  the 
Post  Senior  year.  You  will  be  older  then,  possibly  wiser  also,  and 
may  decide  the  matter  for  yourself  with  maturer  judgment. 

Many  good  men  smoke,  many  better  men  do  not;  some  of  the  best 
men  smoke,  and  some  do  not.  Many  bad  men  smoke,  many  worse 
men  do  not ;  some  of  the  worst  men  smoke,  and  some  do  not. 

The  mature  man  who  smokes  in  fine  moderation  is  not  condemned 
by  his  fellows.  Any  man  young  or  old  who  smokes  to  excess  is  an 
object  of  pity  to  clear-sighted  men. 

Smoking  costs  money,  can  you  not  spend  that  money  to  better  ad- 
vantage, during  your  undergraduate  days?  Smoking  takes  the  keen 
edge  off  the  mind,  do  you  not  need  that  keen  edge  to  cut  your  way 
through  the  manifold  problems  of  your  college  work?  Smoking  some- 
times dims  the  eyes,  you  need  all  the  strength  of  your  vision  for  in- 
cessant application  to  your  work. 

Smoking  is  prohibited  in  many  of  the  best  offices  of  Engineers, 
because  it  lessens  a  man's  output,  and  vitiates  the  air  for  others  who 
do  not  smoke.  It  is  prohibited  here  on  the  Campus. 

Of  the  American  Members  of  the  Board  of  Consulting  Engineers 
for  the  Isthmian  Canal,  not  one  smoked,  and  these  were  most  eminent 
men. 

Smoking  in  moderation  is  not  very  bad,  but  for  you  it  is  not  now 
worth  while..  The  disadvantages  are  real,  the  advantages  in  good 
fellowship  and  relaxation  are  intangible.  A  man  may  be  splendidly 
virile,  and  yet  not  smoke.  Mollycoddles  smoke  cigarettes,  but  some 
strong  men  also  smoke  them.  Smoking  is  really  in  the  "twilight  zone," 
between  good  and  bad.  The  clear  daylight  is  better  for  young  men. 

Now,  it  has  been  called  to  my  attention  that  some  young  men 
coming  to  this  institution  have  not  taken  the  proper  manly  view  regard- 
ing cheating — cheating  in  quizzes  and  examinations.  If  this  is  so,  I 
apprehend  that  it  represents  nothing  vicious  in  intent  but  a  wrong  con- 
ception of  what  is  a  good  joke.  Some  men  probably  think  that,  if  they 
get  through  an  examination  by  means  other  than  knowing  the  sub- 
ject, it  is  a  good  grind  on  the  professor ;  but  I  believe  that  a  young  man 
who  takes  this  view  of  it  would  better  think  about  it  a  little  more  ser- 
iously and  wonder  whether  a  habit  of  this  kind,  which  endangers 
his  reputation  in  his  college  life,  is  not  likely  to  become  a  fixed  habit 
in  his  later  years,  and  whether  he  may  not  join  the  group  which  contains 
the  yellow  curs  and  not  the  thorough-breds.  I  do  not  think  young  men 
appreciate  very  fully  the  fact  that  character,  known  honesty  and  jus- 
tice and  kindliness,  bring  the  highest  money  returns  in  our  profession, 
but  they  do.  The  man  who  is  known  as  the  Dean  of  American  Engi- 


SHENEHON.  19 

neers,  Alfred  Noble  of  New  York,  past-president  of  the  American 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Pennsylvania  Roads' 
East  River  Tunnel,  earns  his  great  salary  and  his  great  esteem  no  less 
by  his  known  probity  and  justice  than  by  his  high  administrative  and 
technical  ability. 

At  Ann  Arbor  a  few  years  ago,  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  a 
man  was  found  cheating.  He  was  tried  by  a  jury  of  his  fellow  stu- 
dents, adjudged  guilty  with  a  recommendation  that  he  be  suspended  for 
a  year;  and  I  believe  the  offense  committed  fully  warranted  a  humilia- 
tion as  great  as  this  young  man  received, — provided  of  course  the  of- 
fense were  clearly  understood.  Let  me  make  this  matter  entirely  clear. 
In  any  of  your  exercises  which  is  a  test  of  your  work,  whether  it  is  an 
examination,  a  quiz,  or  a  theme,  do  not  take  help  or  give  it.  Do  not  take 
it  because  that  is  dishonorable,  do  not  give  it  because  that  degrades  your 
classmate,  and  in  his  dishonorable  act  you  become  an  accomplice  and 
are  liable  to  the  same  treatment  meted  out  to  the  culprit  who  received 
your  aid.  Do  not  be  a  good  fellow  to  the  extent  of  aiding  and  abet- 
ting a  counterfeiter  in  passing  spurious  coin.  You  may  be  in  doubt 
sometimes  as  to  how  far  this  applies.  When  in  doubt  do  the  franker 
thing.  Err  if  at  all  on  the  safe  side.  Remember  the  adage,  "If  an 
egg  is  doubtful,  it  is  bad." 

I  expect  you  have  already  chosen  your  boarding  houses,  and  that 
you  have  rooms  which  have  good  air  in  them  and  excellent  light.  Do 
not  attempt  to  drive  your  mind  at  its  best  pace  and  with  its  highest 
power  in  a  badly  ventilated  room.  Your  lamp  for  night  work  should 
be  a  good  one.  I  myself  when  at  work  like  to  be  flooded  with  light. 
It  appears  to  keep  the  brain  cells  active.  You  know  light  is  wakening 
and  darkness  induces  sleep.  Poor  light  is  less  vivifying  to  the  mental 
faculties  than  brilliant  light. 

You  must  assure  yourself  of  reasonable  quiet  and  freedom  from  in- 
terruption, if  you  would  study  effectively.  Form  the  habit  of 
absolute  attention  to  the  task  in  hand.  Keep  parallel  all  the  forces 
of  your  mind  in  the  direction  toward  which  your  work  tends.  Be 
master  of  your  study  hours,  and  do  not  permit  any  one  to  interrupt 
you.  In  "Tom  Brown  at  Oxford"  I  remember  they  had  a  special 
oak  door  to  close  when  a  man  was  at  study  and  was  not  to  be  inter- 
rupted. He  was  said  to  be  "sporting  the  oak"  and  it  was  bad  form  to 
interrupt  him  then.  When  you  have  work  to  be  done,  do  not  hesitate 
so  to  inform  your  caller.  Be  courteous,  but  do  not  permit  your  study 
hours  to  be  encroached  upon.  Be  systematic.  Keep  your  room,  your 
books,  and  your  papers  in  business-like  order.  Disorder  in  your  en- 
vironment will  put  disorder  into  your  brain,  and  into  your  work. 


20  ADVICE  TO  FRESHMEN. 

Form  the  habit  of  the  card  index  and  the  document  file.  Make 
of  your  room  your  office,  and  have  it  a  business  office.  More  time  is 
lost  in  hunting  up  mislaid  letters,  papers,  and  documents  than  you  can 
imagine.  Special  lectures  will  be  given  to  you  on  "How  to  Study."  In 
this  you  have  an  opportunity  to  prove  yourself  an  efficiency  Engineer. 
For  five  years  now  your  task  is  to  study.  By  bad  methods  you  can 
accomplish  too  little  to  win  high  scholarship.  By  orderly,  systematic, 
consecutive,  incisive,  effective  work  you  may  rank  high  and  have  time 
for  some  of  the  Campus  activities  that  make  the  University  life  so  de- 
lightful and  inspiring. 

Some  of  you  have  already  pledged  yourselves  to  Fraternities.  Pro- 
vided you  are  a  thorough-bred,  you  may  live  in  a  Fraternity  house  and 
do  good  work.  The  good  fellowship  there  is  charming  and  valuable. 
You  will  be  knit  close  to  friends  and  brothers,  who  will  endure  through 
life.  The  friends  you  make  in  College  stand  apart,  no  others  will  be 
like  them.  But  as  fraternity  men  you  will  have  diversions  and  activi- 
ties which  are  likely  to  lower  your  scholarship  below  that  of  men 
who  are  not  of  the  fraternities.  You  must  not  go  into  a  fratern- 
ity unless  you  are  financially  able  to  do  some  things  which  outside 
men  do  not  have  to  do.  You  will  have  to  bear  your  share  of  the  expense 
and  this  is  sometimes  not  inconsiderable.  Above  all  keep  your  friendships 
open.  Do  not  tie  yourself  exclusively  to  a  little  coterie.  Have  your 
friendships  as  broad  as  the  University.  The  fraternity  men  are  gen- 
erally a  well-set-up,  clean,  personable  lot  of  fellows,  who  wear  good 
clothes  and  cultivate  courtesy  and  good  form.  These  things  are  well, 
and  are  the  ways  of  the  city  bred.  You  must  conform  as  far  as  you 
may.  In  some  fraternities  the  upper  classmen  exercise  the  prerogative 
of  elder  brothers,  they  advise  you,  admonish  you,  and  see  to  it  that  you 
do  your  work.  In  this  element  there  is  hope  of  great  good. 

We  look  for  not  only  courtesy  and  kindliness  in  you  men,  but  also 
for  chivalry  and  good  citizenship.  You  are  in  a  way  the  guardians 
of  our  property  here  on  the  Campus.  You  wish  to  keep  things  fresh 
and  presentable.  The  child  of  the  grade  school  and  the  boy  of  the  High 
School  were  sometimes  young  vandals,  they  delighted  in  breaking  and 
marring  things.  They  cut  their  initials  wherever  it  was  safe,  they 
broke  down  the  school  fence,  and  carried  away  the  gate.  They  broke 
the  panes  in  the  windows  of  the  country  school  house.  They  did  all 
sorts  of  boyish  pranks  and  mischief.  Now  you  are  conservators  and 
guardians  playing  the  part  of  men.  Foolish  pranks  in  a  College  are 
to-day  evidence  of  provincialism  and  low  grade.  When  College  men 
descend  to  mischief,  they  hurt  the  good  name  of  the  University,  and 
make  their  own  prestige  less  valuable. 


SHENEHON.  21 

As  for  chivalry  and  courtesy,  treat  each  girl  you  know  as  a  pro- 
tective elder  brother  would.  The  most  contemptible  thing  on  earth  is 
to  degrade  a  woman.  Let  the  College  be  known  for  its  strong  men  and 
their  fine  courtesy.  Touch  your  caps  always  to  all  professors.  Never 
permit  a  woman  to  stand  in  a  street  car  while  you  have  a  seat.  There 
are  only  four  reasons  why  a  young  man  in  a  street  car  permits  a  woman 
to  stand  while  he  remains  seated. 

First— He  is  ill. 

Second — He  is  a  mollycoddle. 

Third— He  is  a  boor. 

Fourth — He  is  not  an  Engineer. 

President  Taft  was  called  the  most  courteous  man  in  Washington, 
because  he  once  gave  his  seat  to  three  women. 

As  to  what  are  known  as  College  activities,  do  not  hasten  to  get 
into  too  many  things.  No  man  can  take  part  in  half  of  the  things  going 
on  and  make  good  in  the  College  of  Engineering.  You  must  choose 
with  deliberation  the  things  you  may  have  a  part  in.  Let  me  advise  you 
when  in  doubt.  It  is  your  duty,  and  it  will  be  to  your  profit  to  become  a 
member  of  the  Engineers'  Society.  Do  that  immediately. 

You  should  organize  as  a  Class  a  little  later.  Elect  officers,  and 
have  a  get-together  banquet.  Wait  a  little  while,  however,  until  you 
know  your  classmates  well  enough  to  bestow  the  honor  of  President 
wisely  and  worthily. 

I  want  to  speak  in  closing  of  the  profession  of  Engineer.  It  is 
such  a  splendid  profession.  Its  horizon  is  so  wide.  It  is  so  modern  as 
to  be  full  of  the  spirit  of  youth,  and  yet  it  is  as  old  as  the  pyramids. 
It  is  vibrating  with  new  life,  new  applications  of  old  laws.  It  is  so  help- 
ful. It  builds,  and  old  earth  becomes  a  better  place.  It  gives  to  the  poor 
ways  of  travel  that  the  rich  of  old  knew  not  of.  It  takes  the  brutal  part 
away  from  human  labor,  and  floods  the  night  with  light.  It  is  creative. 
The  Engineer  is  a  partner  of  the  gods,  and  the  master  of  gravitation. 


TWO  KINDS  OF  EDUCATION  FOR  ENGINEERS. 

By 

Professor  J.  B.  Johnson. 

The  following  masterly  treatment  of  the  subject  of  certain  phases 
of  engineering  education  is  by  the  late  Prof.  J.  B.  Johnson,  a  technical 
instructor  and  author  of  the  highest  rank.  In  his  early  death,  which 
was  accidental,  the  engineering  profession  in  America  suffered  a 
severe  loss  that  is  felt  to  this  day. 

Prof.  Johnson  was  a  deep,  clear  thinker  and  a  technical  writer 
of  wide  scope  and  great  vigor.  His  English,  as  exemplified  in  the 
following  address,  may  well  serve  as  a  model  to  engineering  students, 
and  the  advice  that  he  gave  is  of  the  soundest. 

This  paper  will  bear  several  close  perusals. 

Editors. 


23 


TWO  KINDS  OF  EDUCATION  FOR  ENGINEERS. 

By 

Professor  J.  B.  Johnson. 

Education  may  be  defined  as  a  means  of  gradual  emancipation 
from  the  thraldom  of  incompetence.  Since  incompetence  leads  of 
necessity  to  failure,  and  since  competence  alone  leads  to  certain  suc- 
cess, in  any  line  of  human  endeavor,  and  since  the  natural  or  un- 
educated man  is  but  incompetence  personified,  it  is  of  supreme  im- 
portance that  this  thraldom,  or  this  enslaved  condition  in  which  we 
are  all  born,  should  be  removed  in  some  way.  While  unaided  in- 
dividual effort  has  worked,  and  will  continue  to  work  marvels,  in 
rare  instances  in  our  so-called  self-made  men,  these  recognized  ex- 
ceptions acknowledge  the  rule  that  mankind  in  general  must  be  aided 
in  acquiring  this  complete  mastery  over  the  latent  powers  of  head, 
heart,  and  hand.  These  formal  aids  in  this  process  of  emancipation 
are  found  in  the  grades  of  schools  and  colleges  with  which  the  chil- 
dren of  this  country  are  now  blessed  beyond  those  of  almost  any 
other  country  or  time.  The  boys  or  girls  who  fail  to  embrace  these 
emancipating  opportunities  to  the  fullest  extent  practicable,  are  there- 
by consenting  to  degrees  of  incompetence  and  their  corresponding 
and  resulting  failures  in  life,  which  they  have  had  it  in  their  power 
to  prevent.  This  they  will  ultimately  discover  to  their  chagrin  and 
even  grief,  when  it  is  too  late  to  regain  the  lost  opportunities. 

There  are,  however,  two  general  classes  of  competency  which  I 
wish  to  discuss  to-day,  and  which  are  generated  in  the  schools.  These 
are,  Competency  to  Serve,  and  Competency  to  Appreciate  and  Enjoy. 

By  competency  to  serve  is  meant  that  ability  to  perform  one's 
due  proportion  of  the  world's  work  which  brings  to  society  a  common 
benefit,  which  makes  of  this  world  a  continually  better  home  for  the 
race;  and  which  tends  to  fit  the  race  for  that  immortal  life  in  which 
it  puts  its  trust. 

By  competency  to  appreciate  and  enjoy  is  meant  that  ability  to 
understand,  to  appropriate,  and  to  assimilate  those  great  personal 
achievements  of  the  past  and  present  in  the  fields  of  the  true,  the 
beautiful,  and  the  good,  which  brings  into  our  lives  a  kind  of  peace, 
and  joy,  and  gratitude  which  can  be  found  in  no  other  way. 

It  is  true  that  all  kinds  of  elementary  education  contribute  alike 
to  both  of  these  ends,  but  in  the  so-called  higher  education  it  is  too 
common  to  choose  between  them  rather  than  to  include  them  both. 
Since  it  is  only  service  which  the  world  is  willing  to  pay  for,  it  is 

25 


26  TWO   KINDS   OF  EDUCATION. 

only  those  competent  and  willing  to  serve  a  public  or  private  utility 
who  are  compensated  in  a  financial  way.  It  is  the  education  which 
brings  a  competency  to  serve,  therefore,  which  is  often  called  the 
utilitarian,  and  sometimes  spoken  of  contemptuously  as  the  bread- 
and-butter  education.  On  the  other  hand  the  education  which  gives 
a  competency  to  appreciate  and  to  enjoy  is  commonly  spoken  of  as  a 
cultured  education.  As  to  which  kind  of  education  is  the  higher  and 
nobler,  if  they  must  be  contrasted,  it  all  depends  on  the  point  of  view. 
If  personal  pleasure  and  happiness  are  the  chief  end  and  aim  in  life, 
then  for  that  class  of  persons  who  have  no  disposition  to  serve,  the 
cultural  education  is  the  more  worthy  of  admiration  and  selection 
(conditioned  of  course  on  the  bodily  comforts  being  so  far  provided 
for  as  to  make  all  financial  compensations  of  no  object  to  the  indi- 
vidual). If,  however,  service  to  others  is  the  most  worthy  purpose  in 
life,  and  if  in  addition  such  service  brings  the  greatest  happiness,  then 
that  education  which  develops  the  ability  to  serve,  in  some,  capacity, 
should  be  regarded  as  the  higher  and  more  worthy.  This  kind  of 
education  has  the  further  advantage  that  the  money  consideration 
it  brings  makes  its  possessor  a  self-supporting  member  of  society 
instead  of  a  drone  or  parasite,  which  those  people  must  be  who  can 
not  serve.  I  never  could  see  the  force  of  the  statement  that  "they  also 
serve  who  only  stand  and  wait."  It  is  possible  they  may  serve  their 
own  pleasures,  but  if  this  is  all,  the  statement  should  be  so  qualified. 

The  higher  education  which  leads  to  a  life  of  service  has  been 
known  as  a  professional  education,  as  law,  medicine,  the  ministry, 
teaching,  and  the  like.  These  have  long  been  known  as  the  learned 
professions.  A  learned  profession  may  be  defined  as  a  vocation  in 
which  scholarly  accomplishments  are  used  in  the  service  of  society 
or  of  other  individuals,  for  a  valuable  consideration.  Under  such  a 
definition  every  new  vocation  in  which  a  very  considerable  amount 
of  scholarship  is  required  for  its  successful  prosecution,  and  which  is 
placed  in  the  service  of  others,  must  be  held  as  a  learned  profession. 
And  as  engineering  now  demands  fully  as  great  an  amount  of  learn- 
ing, or  scholarship,  as  any  other,  it  has  already  taken  a  high  rank 
among  these  professions,  although  as  a  learned  profession  it  is  scarce- 
ly half  a  century  old.  Engineering  differs  from  all  other  learned 
professions,  however,  in  this,  that  its  learning  has  to  do  only  with 
the  inanimate  world,  the  world  of  dead  matter  and  force.  The  ma- 
terials, the  laws,  and  the  forces  of  nature,  and  scarcely  to  any  extent 
its  life,  are  the  peculiar  field  of  the  engineer.  Not  only  is  the  engineer 
pretty  thoroughly  divorced  from  life  in  general,  but  even  with  that 
society  of  which  he  is  a  part  his  professional  life  has  little  in  common. 


JOHNSON.  27 

His  profession  is  so  new  it  practically  has  no  past,  either  of  history 
or  of  literature,  which  merits  his  consideration,  much  less  his  labor- 
ious study.  Neither  do  the  ordinary  social  or  political  problems 
enter  in  any  way  into  his  sphere  of  operations.  Natural  law,  dead 
matter,  and  lifeless  force  make. up  his  working  world,  and  in  these 
he  lives  and  moves  and  has  his  professional  being.  Professionally 
regarded,  what  to  him  is  the  history  of  his  own  or  of  other  races? 
What  have  the  languages  and  the  literatures  of  the  world  of  value 
to  him?  What  interest  has  he  in  domestic  or  foreign  politics,  or  in 
the  various  social  and  religious  problems  of  the  day?  In  short  what 
interest  is  there  for  him  in  what  we  now  commonly  include  in  the 
term  ''the  humanities?"  It  must  be  confessed  that  in  a  professional 
way  they  have  little  or  none.  Except  perhaps  two  other  modern 
languages  by  wjiich  he  obtains  access  to  the  current  progress  in 
applied  science,  he  has  practically  no  professional  interest  in  any 
of  these  things.  His  structures  are  made  no  safer  or  more  economical; 
his  prime-movers  are  no  more  powerful  or  efficient;  his  electrical 
wonders  no  more  occult  or  useful ;  his  tools  no  more  ingenious  or 
effective,  because  of  a  knowledge  of  all  these  humanistic  affairs.  As 
a  mere  server  of  society,  therefore,  an  engineer  is  about  as  good  a  tool, 
without  all  this  cultural  knowledge  as  with  it.  But  as  a  citizen,  as 
a  husband  and  father,  as  a  companion,  and  more  than  all,  as  one's 
own  constant,  perpetual,  unavoidable  personality,  the  taking  into  one's 
life  of  a  large  knowledge  of  the  life  and  thought  of  the  world,  both 
past  and  present,  is  a  very  important  matter  indeed,  and  of  these 
two  kinds  of  education,  as  they  affect  the  life-work,  the  professional 
success, -and  the  personal  happiness  of  the  engineer,  I  will  speak  more 
in  detail. 

.  *      .  v*   .'*   J 

I  am  here  using  the  term  engineer  as  including  that  large  class 
of  modern  industrial' workers  who  make  the  new  application  of 
science  to  the  needs  of  modern  life  their  peculiar  business  and  pro- 
fession: A  man  of  this  class  may  also  be  called  an  applied-  scientist. 
Evidently  he  must  have  a  large  acquaintance  with  such  practical 
sciences  as  surveying,  physics,  chemistry,  geology,  metallurgy,  elec- 
tricity, applied  mechanics,  kinematics,  machine  design,  power  genera- 
tion and  transmission,  structural  designing,  land  and  water  trans- 
portation, etc.,  etc.  And  as  a  common  solvent  of  all  the  problems 
arising  in  these  various  subjects  he  must  have  acquired  an  extended 
knowledge  of  mathematics,  without  which  he  would  be  like  a  sailor 
with  -neither  compass  nor  rudder.  To  the  engineer  mathematics  is 
a  tool  of  investigation,  a  means  to  an  end,  and  not  the  end  itself. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  his  physics,  his  chemistry,  and  of  all  his 


28  TWO  KINDS  OF  EDUCATION. 

other  scientific  studies.  They  are  all  to  be  made  tributary  to  the 
solution  of  problems  which  may  arise  in  his  professional  career.  His 
entire  technical  education,  in  fact,  is  presumably  of  the  useful  charac- 
ter, and  acquired  for  specific  useful  ends.  Similarly  he  needs  a  free 
and  correct  use  of  his  mother  tongue,  that  he  may  express  himself 
clearly  and  forcibly  both  in  speech  and  composition,  and  an  ability 
to  read  both  French  and  German,  that  he  may  read  the  current 
technical  literature  in  the  two  other  languages  which  are  most  fruit- 
ful in  new  and  original  technical  matter. 

It  is  quite  true  that  the  mental  development,  the  growth  of  one's 
mental  powers  and  the  command  over  the  same,  which  comes  in- 
cidentally in  the  acquisition  of  all  this  technical  knowledge,  is  of  far 
more  value  than  the  knowledge  itself,  and  hence  great  care  is  given 
in  all  good  technical  schools  to  the  mental  processes  of  the  students, 
and  to  a  thorough  and  logical  method  of  presentation  and  of  acquisi- 
tion. In  other  words,  while  you  are  under  our  instruction  it  is  much 
more  important  that  you  should  think  consecutively,  rationally,  and 
logically,  than  that  your  conclusions  should  be  numerically  correct. 
But  as  soon  as  you  leave  the  school  the  exact  reverse  will  hold. 
Your  employer  is  not  concerned  with  your  mental  development,  or 
with  your  mental  processes,  so  long  as  your  results  are  correct,  and 
hence  we  must  pay  some  attention  to  numerical  accuracy  in  the 
school,  especially  in  the  upper  classes.  We  must  remember,  however, 
that  the  mind  of  the  engineer  is  primarily  a  workshop  and  not  a  ware- 
house or  lumber-room  of  mere  information.  Your  facts  are  better 
stored  in  your  library.  Room  there  is  not  so  valuable  as  it  is  in  the 
mind,  and  the  information,  furthermore,  is  better  preserved.  Memory 
is  as  poor  a  reliance  to  the  engineer  as  to  the  accountant.  Both  alike 
should  consult  their  books  when  they  want  the  exact  facts.  Knowl- 
edge alone  is  not  power.  The  ability  to  use  knowledge  is  a  latent 
power,  and  the  actual  use  of  it  is  a  power.  Instead  of  storing  your 
minds  with  useful  knowledge,  therefore,  I  will  say  to  you,  store  your 
minds  with  useful  tools,  and  with  a  knowledge  only  of  how  to  use 
such  tools.  Then  your  minds  will  become  mental  workshops,  well 
fitted  for  turning  out  products  of  untold  value  to  your  day  and  gen- 
eration. Everything  you  acquire  in  your  course  in  this  college,  there- 
fore, you  should  look  upon  as  mental  tools  with  which  you  are 
equipping  yourselves  for  your  future  careers.  It  may  well  be  that 
some  of  your  work  will  be  useful  rather  for  the  sharpening  of  your 
wits  and  for  the  development  of  mental  grasp,  just  as  gymnastic 
exercise  is  of  use  only  in  developing  your  physical  system.  In  this 
case  it  has  served  as  a  tool  of  development  instead  of  one  for  subse- 


JOHNSON.  29 

quent  use.  Because  all  your  knowledge  here  gained  is  to  serve  you 
as  tools  it  must  be  acquired  quantitatively  rather  than  qualitatively. 
First,  last,  and  all  the  time,  you  are  required  to  know  not  how  simply, 
but  how  much,  how  far,  how  fast,  to  what  extent,  at  what  cost,  with 
what  certainty,  and  with  what  factor  of  safety.  In  the  cultural  educa- 
tion where  one  is  learning  only  to  appreciate  and  to  enjoy,  it  may 
satisfy  the  average  mind  to  know  that  coal  burned  under  a  boiler 
generates  steam  which  entering  a  cylinder  moves  a  piston  which 
turns  the  engine,  and  stop  with  that.  But  the  engineer  must  know 
how  many  heat  units  there  are  in  a  pound  of  coal  burned,  how  many 
of  these  are  generated  in  the  furnace,  how  many  of  them  pass  into 
the  water,  how  much  steam  is  consumed  by  the  engine  per  horse- 
power per  hour,  and  finally  how  much  effective  work  is  done  by  the 
engine  per  pound  of  coal  fed  to  the  furnace.  Merely  qualitative  knowl- 
edge leads  to  the  grossest  errors  of  judgment  and  is  of  that  kind  of 
little  learning  which  is  a  dangerous  thing.  At  my  summer  home  I 
have  a  hydraulic  ram  set  below  a  dam,  for  furnishing  a  water  supply. 
Nearby  is  an  old  abandoned  water-power  grist  mill.  A  man  and  his 
wife  were  looking  at  the  ram  last  summer  and  the  lady  was  over- 
heard to  ask  what  it  was  for.  The  man  looked  about,  saw  the  idle 
water-wheel  of  the  old  mill,  and  ventured  the  opinion  that  it  must 
be  used  to  run  the  mill !  He  knew  a  hydraulic  ram  when  he  saw  it 
and  he  knew  it  was  used  to  generate  power,  and  that  power  would 
run  a  mill.  Ergo,  a  hydraulic  ram  will  run  a  mill.  This  is  on  a  par 
with  thousands  of  similar  errors  of  judgment  where  one's  knowledge 
is  qualitative  only.  All  engineering  problems  are  purely  quantitative 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  and  so  are  all  other  problems,  in  fact, 
whether  material,  or  moral,  or  financial,  or  commercial,  or  social,  or 
political,  or  religious.  All  judgments  passed  on  such  problems,  there- 
fore, must  be  quantitative  judgments.  How  poorly  prepared  to  pass 
such  judgments  are  those  whose  knowledge  is  qualitative  only! 
Success  in  all  fields  depends  very  largely  on  the  accuracy  of  one's 
judgment  in  foreseeing  events,  and  in  engineering  it  depends  wholly 
on  such  accuracy.  An  engineer  must  see  all  around  his  problems, 
and  take  account  of  every  contingency  which  can  happen  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  events.  When  all  such  contingencies  have  been 
foreseen  and  provided  against,  then  the  unexpected  cannot  happen, 
as  everything  has  been  foreseen.  It  is  customary  to  say,  "The  un- 
expected always  happens."  This  of  course  is  untrue.  What  is  meant 
is  "It  is  only  the  unexpected  which  happens,"  for  the  very  good  reason 
that  what  has  been  anticipated  has  been  provided  against. 

In  order  that  knowledge  may  be  used  as  a  tool  in  investigations 


30  TWO  KINDS   OF  EDUCATION. 

and  in  the  solution  of  problems,  it  must  be  so  used  constantly  during 
the  period  of  its  acquisition.  Hence  the  large  amount  of  drawing- 
room,  field,  laboratory,  and  shop  practice  introduced  into  our  engi- 
neering courses.  We  try  to  make  theory  and  practice  go  hand  in 
hand.  In  fact  we  teach  that  theory  is  only  generalized  practice. 
From  the  necessary  facts,  observed  in  special  experiments  or  in  actual 
practice,  and  which  cover  a  sufficiently  wide  range  of  conditions, 
general  principles  are  deduced  from  which  effects  of  given  like  causes 
can  be  foreseen  or  derived,  for  new  cases  arising  in  practice.  This  is 
like  saying,  in  surveying,  that  with  a  true  and  accurate  hind-sight 
an  equally  true  and  accurate  forward  course  can  be  run.  Nearly  all 
engineering  knowledge,  outside  the  pure  mathematics,  is  of  this  ex- 
perimental or  empirical  character,  and  we  generally  know  who  made 
the  experiments,  under  what  conditions,  over  what  range  of  varying 
conditions,  how  accordant  his  results  were,  and  hence  what  weight 
can  be  given  to  his  conclusions.  When  we  can  find  in  our  engineer- 
ing literature  no  sufficiently  accurate  data,  or  none  exactly  covering 
the  case  in  hand,  we  must  set  to  work  to  make  a  set  of  experiments 
which  will  cover  the  given  conditions,  so  as  to  obtain  numerical  fact- 
ors, or  possibly  new  laws,  which  will  serve  to  make  our  calculations 
prove  true  in  the  completed  structure  or  scheme.  The  ability  to 
plan  and  carry  out  such  crucial  tests  and  experiments  is  one  of  the 
most  important  objects  of  an  engineering  college  training,  and  we 
give  our  students  a  large  amount  of  such  laboratory  practice.  In 
all  such  work  it  is  the  absolute  truth  we  are  seeking  and  hence  any 
guessing  at  data  or  falsifying  of  records,  or  "doctoring"  of  the  com- 
putations is  of  the  nature  of  a  professional  crime.  Any  copying  of 
records  from  other  observers,  when  students  are  supposed  to  make 
their  own  observations,  is  both  a  fraud  upon  tlvemselves  as  well  as 
dishonest  to  their  instructor,  and  indicates  a  disposition  of  mind 
which  has  nothing  in  common  with  that  of  the  engineer,  who  is  al- 
ways and  everywhere  a  truth-seeker  and  truth-tester.  The  sooner 
such  a  person  leaves  the  college  of  engineering  the  better  for  him 
and  for  the  engineering  profession.  Men  in  other  professions  may 
blunder  or  play  false  with  more  or  less  impunity.  Thus  the  lawyer 
may  advocate  a  bad  cause  without  losjng  caste;  a  physician  may 
blunder  at  will,  but  his  mistakes  are  soon  buried  out  of  sight;  a 
minister  may  advocate  what  he  no  longer  believes  himself,  and  feel 
that  the  cause  justifies  his  course;  but  the  mistakes  of  the  engineer 
are  quick  to  find  him  out  and  to  proclaim  aloud  his  incompetence. 
He  is  the  one  professional  man  who  is  obliged  to  be  right,  and  for 
whom  sophistry  and  self-deception  are  a  fatal  poison.  But  the  en- 


JOHNSON.  31 

gineer  must  be  more  than  honest,  he  must  be  able  to  discern  the 
truth.  With  him  an  honest  motive  is  no  justification.  He  must 
not  only  believe  he  is  right;  he  must  know  he  is  right.  And  it  is  one 
of  the  greatest  elements  of  satisfaction  in  this  profession,  that  it  is 
commonly  possible  to  secure  in  advance  this  almost  absolute  cer- 
tainty of  results.  We  deal  with  fixed  laws  and  forces,  and  only  so 
far  as  the  materials  used  may  be  faulty,  or  of  unknown  character, 
or  as  contingencies  could  not  be  foreseen  or  anticipated,  does  a 
necessary  ignorance  enter  into  the  problem. 

It  must  not  be  understood,  however,  that  with  all  of  both  the  theory 
and  practice  we  are  able  to  give  our  students  in  their  four-  or  five- 
year  course,  they  will  be  full-fledged  engineers  when  they  leave 
us.  They  ought  to  be  excellent  material  out  of  which,  with  a  few 
years'  actual  practice,  they  would  become  engineers  of  the  first  order. 
Just  as  a  young  physician  must  have  experience  with  actual  patients, 
and  as  a  young  lawyer  must  have  actual  experience  in  the  courts,  so 
must  an  engineer  have  experience  with  real  problems  before  he  can 
rightfully  lay  claim  to  the  title  of  engineer.  And  in  seeking  this  pro- 
fessional practice  they  must  not  be  too  choice.  As  a  rule  the  higher 
up  one  begins  the  sooner  his  promotion  stops,  and  the  lower  down 
he  begins  the  higher  will  he  ultimately  climb.  The  man  at  the  top 
should  know  in  a  practical  way  all  the  work  over  which  he  is  called 
upon  to  preside,  and  this  means  beginning  at  the  bottom.  Too  many 
of  our  graduates  refuse  to  do  this,  and  so  they  stop  in  a  middle  posi- 
tion, instead  of  coming  into  the  management  of  the  business,  which 
position  is  reserved  for  a  man  who  knows  it  all  from  the  bottom  up. 
Please  understand  that  no  position  is  too  menial  in  the  learning  of  a 
business.  But  as  your  college  training  has  enabled  you  to  learn  a 
new  thing  rapidly,  you  should  rapidly  master  these  minor  details  of 
any  business,  and  in  a  few  years  you  should  be  far  ahead  of  the 
ordinary  apprentice  who  went  to  work  from  the  grammar  school  or 
from  the  high  school.  The  great  opportunity  for  the  engineer  of  the 
future  is  in  the  direction  and  management  of  our  various  manufac- 
turing industries.  We  are  about  to  become  the  world's  workshop, 
and  as  competition  grows  sharper  and  as  greater  economies  become 
necessary,  the  technically  trained  man  will  become  an  absolute  neces- 
sity in  the  leading  positions  in  all  our  industrial  works.  These  are 
the  positions  hitherto  held  by  men  who  have  grown  up  with  the 
business,  but  without  technical  training.  They  are  being  rapidly 
supplanted  by  technical  men,  who,  however,  must  serve  their  appren- 
ticeship in  the  business,  from  the  bottom  up.  With  this  combination 
of  theory  and  practice,  and  with  the  American  genius  for  invention. 


32  TWO  KINDS  OF  EDUCATION. 

' 

; 

and  with  our  superb  spirit  of  initiative  and  of  independence,  we  are 
already  setting  a  pace  industrially  which  no  other  nation  can  keep, 

and  which  will  soon  leave  all  others  hopelessly  behind. 

, ' . 

In  the  foregoing  description  of  the  technical  education  and  work 
of  the  engineer,  the  engineer  himself  has  been  considered  as  a  kind 
of  human  tool  to  be  used  in  the  interest  of  society.  His  service  to 
society  alone  has  been  in  contemplation.  But  as  the  engineer  has 
also  a  personality  which  is  capable  of  appreciation  and  enjoyment 
of  the  best  this  world  has  produced  in  the  way  of  literature  and  art; 
as  he  is  to  be  a  citizen  and  a  man  of  family;  and  moreover,  since 
he  has  a  conscious  self  with  which  he  must  always  commune  and 
from  which  he  cannot  escape,  it  is  well  worth  his  while  to  see  to  it 
that  this  self,  this  husband  and  father,  this  citizen  and  neighbor,  is 
something  more  than  a  tool  to  be  worked  in  other  men's  interests, 
and  that  his  mind  shall  contain  a  library,  a  parlor,  and  a  drawing- 
room,  as  well  as  a  work-shop.  And  yet  how  many  engineers'  minds 
are  all  shops  and  out  of  which  only  shop-talk  can  be  drawn !  Such 
men  are  little  more  than  animated  tools,  worked  in  the  interest  of 
society.  They  are  liable  to  be  something  of  a  bore  to  their  families 
and  friends,  almost  a  cipher  in  the  social  and  religious  life  of  the 
community,  and  a  weariness  to  the  flesh  to  their  more  liberal  minded 
professional  brethren.  Their  lives  are  one  continuous  grind,  which 
has  for  them  doubtless  a  certain  grim  satisfaction,  but  which  is 
monotonous  and  tedious  in  comparison  with  what  they  might  have 
been.  Even  when  valued  by  the  low  standard  of  money-making,  they 
are  not  nearly  so  likely  to  secure  lucrative  incomes  as  they  would 
be  with  a  greater  breadth  of  information  and  worldly  interest.  They 
are  likely  to  stop  in  snug  professional  berths  which  they  find  ready- 
made  for  them,  under  some  sort  of  fixed  administration,  and  main- 
tain through  life  a  subordinate  relation  to  directing  heads  who,  witli 
a  tithe  of  their  technical  ability,  are  yet  able,  with  their  worldly 
knowledge,  their  breadth  of  interests,  and  their  fellowship  with  men, 
to  dictate  to  these  narrower  technical  subordinates,  and  to  fix  for 
them  their  fields  of  operation. 

In  order,  therefore,  that  the  technical  man,  who  in  material 
things  knows  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it,  may  be  able  to  get  the 
thing  done  and  to  direct  the  doing  of  it,  he  must  be  an  engineer  of 
men  and  of  capital  as  well  as  of  the  materials  and  forces  of  nature. 
In  other  words  he  must  cultivate  human  interests,  human  learning, 
human  associations,  and  avail  himself  of  every  opportunity  to  further 
these  personal  and  business  relations.  If  he  can  make  himself  a  good 
business  man,  or  as  good  a  manager  of  men,  as  he  usually  makes  of 


JOHNSON.  33 

himself  in  the  field  of  engineering  he  has  chosen,  there  is  no  place 
too  great,  and  no  salary  too  high  for  him  to  aspire  to.  Of  such  men 
are  our  greatest  railroad  presidents  and  general  managers  and  the 
directors  of  bur  largest  industrial  establishments.  While  most— of 
this  kind  of  knowledge  must  also  be  acquired  in  actual  practice,  yet 
some  of  it  can  best  be  obtained  in  college.  I  shall  continue  to  urge 
upon  all  young  men  who  can  afford  it  either  to  take  the  combined  six- 
year  college  and  engineering  course,  described  in  our  catalogue,  or  the 
five-year  course  in  the  College  of  Engineering,  taking  as  extra  studies 
many  things  now  taught  in  our  School  of  Commerce.  The  one  cry- 
ing weakness  of  our  engineering  graduates  is  ignorance  of  the  busi- 
ness, the  social,  and  the  political  world,  and  of  human  interests  in 
general.  They  have  little  knowledge  in  common  with  the  graduates 
of  our  literary  colleges,  and  hence  often  find  little  pleasure  in  such 
associations.  They  become  clannish,  run  mostly  with  men  of  their 
class,  take  little  interest  in  the  commercial  or  business  departments 
of  the  establishments  with  which  they  are  connected,  and  so  become 
more  and  more  fixed  in  their  inanimate  worlds  of  matter  and  force. 
I  beseech  you,  therefore,  while  yet  students,  to  try  to  broaden  your 
interests,  extend  your  horizons  now  into  other  fields,  even  but  for  a 
bird's-eye  view,  and  profit,  so  far  as  possible,  by  the  atmosphere  of 
universal  knowledge  which  you  can  breathe  here  through  the  entire 
period  of  your  college  course.  Try  to  find  a  chum  who  is  in  another 
department;  go  to  literary  societies;  haunt  the  library;  attend  the 
available  lectures  in  literature,  science,  and  art,  attend  the  meetings 
of  the  Science  Club ;  and  in  every  way  possible,  with  a  peep  here 
and  a  word  there,  improve  to  the  utmost  these  marvelous  oppor- 
tunities which  will  never  come  to  you  again.  Think  not  of  tasks; 
call  no  assignments  by  such  a  name.  Call  them  opportunities,  and 
cultivate  a  hunger  and  thirst  for  all  kinds  of  humanistic  knowledge 
outside  your  particular  world  of  dead  matter,  for  you  will  never 
again  have  such  an  opportunity,  and  you  will  be  always  thankful  that 
you  made  good  use  of  this,  your  one  chance  in  a  lifetime. 

For  your  own  personal  happiness,  and  that  of  your  immediate 
associates,  secure  in  some  way,  either  in  college  or  after  leaving  the 
same,  an  acquaintance  with  the  world's  best  literature,  with  the  lead- 
ing facts  of  history,  and  with  the  biographies  of  many  of  the  great- 
est men  in  pure  and  applied  science,  as  well  as  of  statesmen  and  lead- 
ers in  many  fields.  With  this  knowledge  of  great  men,  great  thoughts, 
and  great  deeds,  will  come  that  lively  interest  in  men  and  affairs 
which  is  held  by  educated  men  generally,  and  which  will  put  you  on 
an  even  footing  with  them  in  your  daily  intercourse.  This  kind  of 


34  TWO  KINDS   OF  EDUCATION. 

knowledge  also  elevates  and  sweetens  the  intellectual  life,  leads  to 
the  formation  of  lofty  ideals,  helps  one  to  a  command  of  good  English, 
and  in  a  hundred  ways  refines,  and  inspires  to  high  and  noble  en- 
deavor. This  is  the  cultural  education  leading  to  that  appreciation 
and  enjoyment  man  is  assumed  to  possess. 

Think  not,  however,  that  I  depreciate  the  peculiar  work  of  the 
engineering  college.  It  is  by  this  kind  of  education  alone  that  America 
has  already  become  supreme  in  nearly  all  lines  of  material  advance- 
ment. I  am  only  anxious  that  the  men  who  have  made  these  things 
possible  shall  reap  their  full  share  of  the  benefits. 

In  conclusion  let  me  congratulate  you  on  having  selected  courses 
of  study  which  will  bring  you  into  the  most  intimate  relations  with 
the  world's  work  of  your  generation.  All  life  to-day  is  one  endless 
round  of  scientific  applications  of  means  to  ends,  but  such  applications 
are  still  in  their  infancy.  A  decade  now  sees  more  material  progress 
than  a  century  did  in  the  past.  Not  to  be  scientifically  trained  in 
these  matters  is  equivalent  to-day  to  a  practical  exclusion  from  all 
part  and  share  in  the  industrial  world.  The  entire  direction  of  the 
world's  industry  and  commerce  is  to  be  in  your  hands.  You  are  also 
charged  with  making  the  innumerable  new  discoveries  and  inventions 
which  will  come  in  your  generation  and  almost  wholly  through  men 
of  your  cfass.  The  day  of  the  inventor,  ignorant  of  science  and  of 
nature's  laws,  has  gone  by.  The  mere  mechanical  contrivances  have 
been  pretty  well  exhausted.  Henceforth  profitable  invention  must 
include  the  use  or  embodiment  of  scientific  principles  with  which  the 
untrained  artisan  is  unacquainted.  More  and  more  will  invention  be 
but  the  scientific  application  of  means  to  ends,  and  this  is  what  we 
teach  in  the  engineering  schools.  Already  our  patent  office  is  much 
puzzled  to  distinguish  between  engineering  and  invention.  Since  en- 
gineering proper  consists  in  the  solution  of  new  problems  in  the  ma- 
terial world,  and  invention  is  likewise  the  discovery  of  new  ways  of 
doing  things,  they  cover  the  same  field.  But  an  invention  is  patent- 
able,  while  an  engineering  solution  is  not.  Invention  is  supposed  in 
law  to  be  an  inborn  faculty  by  which  new  truth  is ,  conceived  by  no 
definable  way  of  approach.  If  it  had  not  been  reached  by  this  par- 
ticular individual,  it  is  assumed  that  it  might  never  have  been  known. 
An  engineering  solution  is  supposed,  and  rightly,  to  have  been  reached 
by  logical  processes  through  known  laws  of  matter,  and  force,  and 
.motion,  so  that  another  engineer,  given  the  same  problem,  would 
probably  have  reached  the  same  or  an  equivalent  result.  And  this  is 
.not  patentable.  Already  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  patents  issued 
cotald  be  nullified  on  this  ground,  if  the  attorneys  only  knew  enough 


JOHNSON.  35 

to  make  their  case.  More  and  more,  therefore,  are  the  men  of  your 
class  to  be  charged  with  the  responsibility  and  to  be  credited  with 
the  honor  of  the  world's  progress,  and  more  and  more  is  the  world's 
work  to  be  placed  under  your  direction.  The  world  will  be  remade 
by  every  succeeding  generation,  and  all  by  the  technically  educated 
class.  These  are  your  responsibilities  and  your  honors.  The  tasks  are 
great  and  great  will  be  your  rewards.  That  you  may  fitly  prepare 
yourself  for  them  is  the  hope  and  trust  of  your  teachers  in  this  college 
of  engineering. 

I  will  close  this  address  by  quoting  Professor  Huxley's  definition 
of  a  liberal  education.  Says  Huxley:  "That  man,  I  think,  has  had  a 
liberal  education  who  has  been  so  trained  in  youth  that  his  body  is 
the  ready  servant  of  his  will,  and  does  with  ease  and  pleasure  all  the 
work  that,  as  a  mechanism,  it  is  capable  of ;  whose  intellect  is  a  clear, 
cold,  logic-engine,  with  all  its  parts  of  equal  strength,  and  in  smooth 
working  order;  ready,  like  a  steam  engine,  to  be  turned  to  any  kind  of 
work,  and  spin  the  gossamers  as  well  as  forge  the  anchors  of  the 
mind ;  whose  mind  is  stored  with  a  knowledge  of  the  great  and  fund- 
amental truths  of  Nature  and  of  the  laws  of  her  operations;  one  who, 
no  stunted  ascetic,  is  full  of  life  and  fire,  but  whose  passions  are 
trained  to  come  to  heel  by  a  vigorous  will,  the  servant  of  a  tender 
conscience;  who  has  learned  to  love  all  beauty,  whether  of  nature  or 
of  art,  to  hate  all  vileness,  and  to  respect  others  as  himself. 

"Such  a  one  and  no  other,  I  conceive,  has  had  a  liberal  education ; 
for  he  is,  as  completely  as  a  man  can  be,  in  harmony  with  Nature. 
He  will  make  the  best  of  her,  and  she  of  him.  They  will  get  on 
together  rarely ;  she  as  his  ever  beneficient  mother ;  he  as  her  mouth- 
piece, her  conscious  self,  her  minister  and  interpreter." 


THE  DURABLE  SATISFACTIONS 
OF  LIFE. 

By 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot. 

Dr.  Eliot,  who  for  many  years  was  President  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, treats  in  this  paper  of  matters  of  prime  importance  to  all 
young  men  who  desire  sound  education;  hence  it  should  be  read  with 
care  and  attention  by  engineering  students.  The  principle  of  mens 
sana  in  corpore  sano  is  one  that  was  long  ago  established;  but,  un- 
fortunately, it  is  still  too  often  ignored,  especially  in  student  life. 
Young  men  are  prone  to  go  to  either  one  extreme  or  the  other;  and, 
especially  in  engineering  schools,  earnest  students  are  given  to  de- 
veloping the  mind  at  the  expense  of  the  body.  This  is  a  practice 
which  cannot  be  too  forcibly  condemned;  for,  (to  misquote  holy  writ) 
"what  profiteth  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  of  knowledge  and  lose 
his  own  body?" 

Dr.  Eliot's  remarks  concerning  "trained  capacity  for  mental  labor" 
are  words  of  wisdom  and  should  be  heeded,  and  what  he  says  about 
honor  and  reputation  should  be  the  very  gospel  of  engineering  students. 

It  is  through  the  courtesy  of  Messrs.  Thomas  Y.-  Crowell  and 
Company,  Publishers,  that  permission  has  been  obtained  to  reproduce 
this  paper  from  their  book  entitled  "Durable  Satisfactions  of  Life" 
by  Charles  W.  Eliot. 

Editors. 


THE    DURABLE  SATISFACTIONS  OF  LIFE. 

By 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot. 

For  educated  men  what  are  the  sources  of  the  solid  and  durable 
satisfactions  of  life?  I  hope  you  are  all  aiming  at  the  solid,  durable 
satisfactions  of  life,  not  primarily  the  gratifications  of  this  moment 
or  of  to-morrow,  but  the  satisfactions  that  are  going  to  last  and 
growr.  So  far  as  I  have  seen,  there  is  one  indispensable  foundation  for 
the  satisfactions,  of  life — health.  A  young  man  ought  to  be  a  clean 
wholesome,  vigorous  animal.  That  is  the  foundation  for  everything 
else,  and  I  hope  you  will  all  be  that,  if  you  are  nothing  more.  We 
have  to  build  everything  in  this  world  of  domestic  joy  and  profes- 
sional success,  everything  of  a  useful,  honorable  career,  on  bodily 
wholesomeness  and  vitality. 

This  being  a  clean,  wholesome,  vigorous  animal  involves  a  good 
deal.  It  involves  not  condescending  to  the  ordinary  barbaric  vices. 
One  must  avoid  drunkenness,  gluttony,  licentiousness,  and  getting  into 
dirt  of  any  kind,  in  order  to  be  a  clean,  wholesome,  vigorous  animal. 
Still,  none  of  you  would  be  content  with  this  achievement  as  the 
total  outcome  of  your  lives.  It  is  a  happy  thing  to  have  in  youth 
what  are  called  animal  spirits — a 'very  descriptive  phrase;  but  animal 
spirits  do  not  last  even  in  animals;  they  belong  to  the  kitten  or  puppy 
stage.  It  is  a  wholesome  thing  to  enjoy  for  a  time,  or  for  a  time 
each  day  all  through  life,  sports  and  active  bodily  exercise.  These  are 
legitimate  enjoyments,  but  if  made  the  main  object  of  life,  they  tire. 
They  cease  to  be  a  source  of  durable  satisfaction.  Play  must  be  in- 
cidental in  a  satisfactory  life. 

What  is  the  next  thing,  then,  that  we  want  in  order  to  make 
sure  of  durable  satisfaction  in  life?  We  need  a  strong  mental  grip, 
a  wholesome  capacity  for  hard  work.  It  is  intellectual  power  and 
aims  that  we  need.  In  all  the  professions — learned,  scientific,  or  in- 
dustrial— large  mental  enjoyments  should  come  to  educated  men. 
The  great  distinction  between  the  privileged  class  to  which  you  be- 
long, the  class  that  has  opportunity  for  prolonged  education,  and  the 
much  larger  class  that  has  not  that  opportunity,  is  that  the  educated 
class  lives  mainly  by  the  exercise  of  intellectual  powers  and  gets,  there- 
fore, much  greater  enjoyment  out  of  life  than  the  much  larger  class 
that  earns  a  livelihood  chiefly  by  the  exercise  of  bodily  powers.  You 
ought  to  obtain  here,  therefore,  the  trained  capacity  for  mental  labor, 
rapid,  intense,  and  sustained.  That  is  the  great  thing  to  get  in 
college,  long  before  the  professional  school  is  entered.  Get  it  now. 

39 


40  DURABLE  SATISFACTIONS  OF  LIFE. 

Get  it  in  the  years  of  college  life.  It  is  the  main  achievement  of  college 
life  to  win  this  mental  force,  this  capacity  for  keen  observation  just 
inference,  and  sustained  thought,  for  everything  that  we  mean  by 
the  reasoning  power  of  man.  That  capacity  will  be  the  main  source 
of  intellectual  joys  and  of  happiness  and  content  throughout  a  long 
and  busy  life. 

But  there  is  something  more,  something  beyond  this  acquired 
power  of  intellectual  labor.  As  Shakespeare  puts  it,  "the  purest 
treasure  mortal  times  afford  is  spotless  reputation."  How  is  that 
treasure  won?  It  comes  by  living  with  honor,  on  honor.  Most  of 
you  have  begun  already  to  live  honorably  and  honored,  for  the  life 
of  honor  begins  early.  Some  things  the  honorable  man  cannot  do, 
never  does.  He  never  wrongs  or  degrades  a  woman.  He  never  op- 
presses or  cheats  a  person  weaker  or  poorer  than  himself.  He  never 
betrays  a  trust.  He  is  honest,  sincere,  candid,  and  generous.  It 
is  not  enough  to  be  honest.  An  honorable  man  must  be  generous, 
and  I  do  not  mean  generous  with  money  only.  I  mean  generous  in 
his  judgments  of  men  and  women,  and  of  the  nature  and  prospects 
of  mankind.  Such  generosity  is  a  beautiful  attribute  of  the  man  of 
honor. 

How  does  honor  come  to  a  man?  What  is  the  evidence  of  the 
honorable  life?  What  is  the  tribunal  which  declares  at  last,  "This 
was  an  honorable  man"?  You  look  now  for  the  favorable  judgment 
of  your  elders, — of  parents  and  teachers  and  older  students ;  but  these 
elders  will  not  be  your  final  judges,  and  you  had  better  get  ready 
now  in  college  to  appear  before  the  ultimate  tribunal,  the  tribunal  of 
your  contemporaries  and  the  younger  generations.  It  is  the  judg- 
ment of  your  contemporaries  that  is  most  important  to  you ;  and  you 
will  find  that  the  judgment  of  your  contemporaries  is  made  up  alarm- 
ingly early, — it  may  be  made  up  this  year  in  a  way  that  sometimes  lasts 
for  life  and  beyond.  It  is  made  up  in  part  by  persons  to  whom 
you  have  never  spoken,  by  persons  who  in  your  view  do  not  know 
you,  and  who  get  only  a  general  impression  of  you;  but  always  it  is 
contemporaries  whose  judgment  is  formidable  and  unavoidable.  Live 
now  in  the  fear  of  that  tribunal, — not  an  abject  fear,  because  inde- 
pendence is  an  indispensable  quality  in  the  honorable  man.  There  is 
an  admirable  phrase  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  a  document 
which  it  was  the  good  fashion  of  my  time  for  boys  to  commit  to 
memory.  I  doubt  if  that  fashion  still  obtains.  Some  of  our  public 
action  looks  as  if  it  did  not.  "When,  in  the  course  of  human  events, 
it  becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands 
which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to  assume  among  the 


ELIOT.  41 

powers  of  the  earth  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws 
of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the 
opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which 
impel  them  .to  the  separation."  That  phrase — "a  decent  respect" — is 
a  very  happy  one.  Cherish  "a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of 
mankind,"  but  never  let  that  interfere  with  your  personal  declara- 
tion of  independence.  Begin  now  to  prepare  for  the  judgment  of  the 
ultimate  human  tribunal. 

Look  forward  to  the  important  crises  of  your  life.  They  are 
nearer  than  you  are  apt  to  imagine.  It  is  a  very  safe  protective  rule 
to  live  to-day  as  if  you  were  going  to  marry  a  pure  woman  within  a 
month.  That  rule  you  will  find  a  safeguard  for  worthy  living.  It  is 
a  good  rule  to  endeavor  hour  by  hour  and  week  after  week  to  learn 
to  work  hard.  It  is  not  well  to  take  four  minutes  to  do  what  you  can 
accomplish  in  three.  It  is  not  well  to  take  four  years  to  do  what  you 
can  perfectly  accomplish  in  three.  It  is  well  to  learn  to  work  in- 
tensely. You  will  hear  a  good  deal  of  advice  about  letting  your  soul  grow 
and  breathing  in  without  effort  the  atmosphere  of  a  learned  society  or 
place  of  learning.  Well,  you  cannot  help  breathing  and  you  cannot 
help  growing;  those  processes  will  take  care  of  themselves.  The 
question  for  you  from  day  to  day  is  how  to  learn  to  work  to  ad- 
vantage, and  college  is  the  place  and  now  is  the  time  to  win  mental 
power.  And,  lastly,  live  to-day  and  every  day  like  a  man  of  honor. 


ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

By 
Professor  Frank  P.   McKibben. 

This  paper,  which  contains  in  condensed  form  much  valuable  ad- 
vice to  engineering1  students,  is  reprinted  from  an  editorial  written  for 
the  Engineering  Record  ;  consequently  the  doctrine  that  it  preaches  may 
be  considered  to  have  the  official  endorsement  of  that  high  authority. 

Editors. 


ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

•-'."   '    V          y  By 

Professor  Frank  P.  McKibben. 

Now  that  the  time  has  arrived  for  engineering  students  to  return  to 
their  respective  universities  and  technical  schools,  it  is  appropriate  for 
them,  before  beginning  the  year's  work,  to  survey  the  field  with  a  view 
of  deriving  the  greatest  benefit  from  the  time  and  money  spent  in  the 
undertaking ;  in  other  words,  to  see  the  purpose  of  an  engineering  educa- 
tion. The  object  which  every  young  man  should  have  for  securing  an 
education  of  any  kind  is  to  learn  how  to  live,  which  includes  a  great  deal 
more  than  the  mere  process  of  "making  a  living."  The  student  who 
spends  four  years  at  a  school  with  this  firmly  fixed  in  his  mind  will  derive 
vastly  more  benefit  than  the  one  who  thinks  of  his  course  as  simply  a 
means  of  "getting  a  job"  upon  graduation.  He  must  remember  that, 
to  secure  the  greatest  development,  it  is  necessary  to  grow  morally,  men- 
tally, and  physically ;  and  if  he  neglects  any  one  of  these  elements  he  has 
not  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities.  Students  as  a  rule  allow  them- 
selves to  be  too  easily  influenced  by  what  is  customary  rather  than  by 
what  is  best.  For  example,  many  spend  no  time  in  out-of-door  sports 
except  to  watch  the  weekly  'varsity  contest,  which  is  proper  as  far  as 
it  goes,  but  which  is  not  so  effective  in  building  up  a  strong  body  as  is  a 
daily  game  of  tennis  or  other  similar  healthy  exercise.  Throughout  the 
entire  course  some  form  of  legitimate  physical  exercise  should  be  in- 
dulged in,  with  a  view  of  improving  the  body  rather  than  with  a  de- 
termination of  breaking  an  intercollegiate  record,  which  in  the  break- 
ing is  very  apt  to  overtax  the  powers  of  him  who  attempts  it. 

Next  to  developing  a  strong  body  the  student  should  exert  his  best 
efforts  to  accomplishing  two  things.  First,  he  should  train  himself  to 
understand  and  to  deal  with  his  fellow  students  and  the  teaching  corps, 
and  to  make  as  many  friends  as  possible  in  both  these  bodies.  If  this 
quality  of  mixing  with  men  can  be  acquired  in  college,  it  will  not  only 
render  college  days  more  pleasant  and  more  profitable,  but  it  will  result 
in  a  breadth  of  view  about  men  and  things  that  will  make  the  student  a 
more  useful  citizen  throughout  his  after  life.  To  accomplish  this  it 
is  necessary,  among  other  things,  to  take  part  in  some  of  the  various 
social  activities  which  are  to  be  found  in  every  school,  but  here  again 
a  middle  course  must  be  taken  and  the  student  must  not  become  en- 
tangled in  so  many  of  these  non-scholastic  activities  as  to  allow  them  to 

45 


46  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

absorb  his  attention  to  the  extent  that  other  features  of  his  training  are 
neglected.  In  other  words,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  there  are 
several  things  to  be  gotten  out  of  college,  and  no  student  should  so 
specialize  in  the  social  activities  as  to  be  found  wanting  either  in  the 
physical  or  scholastic  training. 

While  engaged  in  strengthening  the  physical  and  social  sides,  social 
here  being  used  in  its  broad  sense,  each  student  must  constantly  bear 
in  mind  that  the  training  of  his  mental  faculties  is  one  of  the  principal 
objects  of  his  being  in  college ;  that  while  he  is  engaged  in  acquiring 
knowledge  of  engineering  principles  he  should  realize  that  this  is  a  matter 
of  the  greatest  importance  and  that  whether  he  is  in  the  class  room,  in 
the  laboratory,  or  on  the  athletic  field,  his  studies  should  be  considered  a 
serious  part  of  his  life's  work.  Although  the  mental  training  has  here 
been  considered  last  it  must  not  be  assumed  that  it  is  of  minor  importance, 
for  the  three  sides  of  his  development  are  of  equal  value  both  to  the 
young  man  himself  and  to  the  world  at  large. 

It  is  essential  that  the  function  of  the  engineering  course  should  be 
clearly  understood  and  kept  in  mind  by  students  and  instructors.  These 
courses  should  be  followed  in  such  a  way  that  the  student  will  not  only 
learn  how  to  think,  but  how  to  accomplish  things  as  well,  for  the  world 
gauges  a  man  not  only  by  what  he  knows,  but  also  by  what  he  does  and 
the  manner  in  which  he  does  it.  The  power  to  formulate  and  to  solve 
new  questions  which  are  constantly  arising  in  industrial,  in  engineering, 
and  in  scientific  fields  is  what  each  man  should  strive  to  obtain.  To 
this  end  he  must  acquire  methods  of  clear  thinking,  habits  of  industry, 
accuracy,  and  reliability.  Let  not  the  standard  be  the  quality  of  work 
that  will  secure  the  lowest  passing  mark/but  rather  let  it  be  of  a  quality 
which  creates  the  self-satisfaction  coming  from  having  done  one's  best 
work.  In  other  words,  no  man  should  be  satisfied  until  he  has  done  the 
best  that  he  is  capable  of  doing,  and  he  must  remember  that  it  is  vastly 
more  important  to  himself  that  he  sets  and  maintains  a  high  standard  in 
his  work  than  it  is  for  the  teacher,  or  later  his  employer,  to  set  it  for 
him. 

Few  students  realize  the  value  of  being  accurate.  Unfortunately, 
this  is  not  altogether  the  student's  fault,  because  it  is  the  custom  in  most 
engineering  schools  of  giving  more  work  than  students  can  do  well, 
and  then  to  be  satisfied  if  they  do  60  per  cent,  of  it.  The  60  per  cent, 
represents  the  usual  passing  grade.  Under  this  system  it  is  difficult  for 
a  young  man  to  do  his  best,  but  he  should  strive  to  eliminate  errors 
by  being  constantly  on  guard  against  them.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten 
that  it  is  results,  accurate  and  reliable,  that  are  wanted  ;  that  to  under- 
stand the  principles  involved  and  to  make  numerous  arithmetical  or 
other  mistakes  in  their  application  is  even  more  serious  than  not  to  have 


McKIBBEN.  47 

the  principles  at  all.  In  this  connection  it  is  desirable  to  emphasize  the 
importance  of  self-training.  The  very  best  teacher  can  only  point  out 
the  way,  and  it  is  for  the  student  then  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
following  it.  Each  man  should  cultivate  self-reliance,  and  should  close- 
ly scrutinize  his  own  work  in  order  that  mistakes  may  be  finally  reduced 
to  a  minimum.  This  question  of  exercising  care  is  a  very  serious  one, 
and  cannot  be  too  strongly  impressed  upon  teachers  and  students  in 
our  engineering  schools. 

A  thorough  understanding  of  the  underlying  principles  of  chemistry, 
mathematics,  and  physics  is  very  necessary  in  engineering,  and  the 
engineering  school  is  by  far  the  best  place  to  get  it.  In  addition  to 
these  subjects  it  is  essential  that  attention  be  paid  to  their  application, 
as  exemplified  in  the  study  of  hydraulics,  strength  of  materials,  and 
various  forms  of  design,  such  as  bridge  and  machine  design.  Design 
is  especially  useful  because  it  trains  the  imagination,  encourages  re- 
sourcefulness, develops  ability  to  attack  and  solve  _new  problems,  and 
what  is  of  paramount  importance,  it  fixes  the  principles  as  no  other 
method  of  instruction  can.  By  design  is  meant  the  application  of  prin- 
ciples of  mechanics  to  determining  the  size  and  strength  of  the  various 
parts  of  a  structure  without  going  so  far  into  the  details  as  to  lose  sight 
of  the  main  problem.  Let  no  one  be  deceived  bv  thinking  that  he  is 
learning  bridge  engineering  when  he  is  really  memorizing  the  sizes  of 
heads  corresponding  to  certain  commercial  sizes  of  rivet  shanks.  De- 
tails such  as  this  can  be  much  better  learned  in  the  bridge  company 
than  in  the  college,  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  principles  of  design 
can  be  more  quickly,  though  no  better,  mastered  in  college. 

All  students  of  engineering  should  take  part  in  the  activities  of  their 
local  engineering  societies,  and  should  be  familiar  with  the  principal 
technical  journals,  because  after  graduation  they  will  find  that  their 
college  courses  will  really  be  continued  in  a  measure  by  preparing  and 
reading  papers  before  the  national  engineering  societies  and  by  con- 
tributing articles  to  the  leading  engineering  periodicals.  Furthermore, 
by  reading  a  good  engineering  paper  there  is  seen  the  result  of  the 
application  of  principles  learned  in  the  classrooms  and  the  text-books, 
thus  adding  to  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  of  the  college  work.  It  is 
well,  therefore,  that  while  in  college  some  knowledge  be  acquired  of 
these  two  branches  of  what  may  be  said  to  constitute  the  post-graduate 
course  of  the  average  engineer. 

Finally,  students  should  not  attempt  to  specialize,  but  should  get  a 
broad,  general  training  in  fundamental  principles,  together  with  enough 
of  their  applications  to  fix  them  thoroughly.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
mistake  should  not  be  made  of  confusing  breadth  with  superficiality.  A 
man  can  be  broad  and  at  the  same  time  thorough. 


THE  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH  TO  THE  TECHNICAL  MAN. 

By 

John  Lyle  Harrington,  Consulting  Engineer. 

Concerning  the -excellence  or  the  reverse  of  this  paper  it  behooveth 
not  the  Editors  to  speak,  as  it  is  the  work  of  one  of  them ;  nevertheless 
it  may,  perhaps,  legitimately  be  stated  that  after  it  was  published  in 
pamphlet  form  and  widely  distributed  among  engineers,  professors,  and 
students,  it  received  unanimous  approval  and  much  commendation. 

It  was  delivered  early  in  1907  to  the  Technological  Society  of  Kan- 
sas City,  the  Engineering  Society  of  the  University  of  Missouri,  and 
the  Civil  Engineering  Society  of  the  University  of  Kansas. 

Upon  whether  its  teachings  be  followed  or  ignored  may  depend 
the  success  or  failure  of  any  technical  student  to  attain  in  after  life 
the  highest  rank  in  the  engineering  profession.  Possessing  a  mastery 
of  the  English  language,  he  may  or  may  not  rise  to  eminence ;  but  with- 
out it,  he  certainly  cannot.  Any  engineering  student  who  wilfully  neg- 
lects the  study  of  his  own  language  deserves  the  failure  to  attain  emin- 
ence which  assuredly  will  be  his  fate. 

Editors. 


49 


THE  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH  TO  THE  TECHNICAL  MAN. 

By 

John  Lyle  Harrington,  Consulting  Engineer. 

Language  is  an  instrument,  a  medium  for  the  exchange  of  thought. 
If,  in  individual  instances,  both  speaker  and  hearer  employ  words  in 
the  same  sense  and  arrange  them  in  the  same  manner,  the  expressed 
ideas  wil!  be  perfectly  understood,  whether  the  language  be  in  accordance 
with  good  usage  or  not.  But,  if  thought  is  to  be  conveyed  without 
loss  to  a  larger  audience,  the  medium  must  be  substantially  perfect. 
Words  must  not  only  be  used  in  accordance  with  their  accustomed  and 
generally  accepted  meanings,  and  with  all  the  shades  and  niceties  of 
those  meanings,  but  they  must  be  arranged  in  accordance  with  the 
accepted  construction  of  phrase,  clause,  and  sentence ;  and  the  whole 
argument  or  thesis  must  be  so  ordered  with  regard  to  the  sequence  and 
the  relations  of  the  various  ideas  that  the  hearer  shall  be  compelled 
to  understand.  Discourses  in  which  thoughts,  though  they  be  ever  so 
clearly  expressed,  are  not  arranged  in  logical  order,  will  fail  in  their 
purpose,  because  the  argument  is  confused  and  the  mind  of  the  hearer 
is  occupied  with  the  language  instead  of  the  substance  of  the  thought. 
You  will  recall  Sam  Weller's  remark  regarding  Mr.  Nupkins'  eloquence 
that  "his  ideas  come  out  so  fast  they  knock  each  other's  heads  off  and 
you  can't  tell  what  he  is  driving  at."  Like  any  other  instrument,  the 
value  of  language  is  in  direct  proportion  to  our  knowledge  of  it  and  our 
skill  in  its  use.  If  we  understand  it  fully  and  use  it  skillfully  it  will 
serve  our  purpose  well,  but  if  we  are  novices  and  bunglers,  only  dis- 
appointment will  result. 

Language,  though  it  will  not  supply  the  place  of  thought,  is  a 
most  essential  instrument  to  every  man.  To  him  who  is  without  im- 
portant thought  to  express,  it  is  not  a  very  valuable  tool.  The  laborer 
does  not  require  it  in  handling  the  pick  and  shovel;  it  is  only  in 
his  social  relations  that  he  has  much  need  for  speech.  It  is  not  im- 
portant that  the  stoker  speak  fluently,  or  that  the  mechanic  be  an  able 
orator  or  writer.  But  as  we  proceed  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  and 
more  intellectual  occupations,  the  need  and  the  value  of  knowledge  and 
command  of  language  rapidly  increase.  The  politician,  we  sometimes 
think,  makes  skillful  use  of  language  to  hide  his  thought,  or  to  dis- 
semble. Indeed,  in  all  walks  of  life  there  are  times  when  words  are 
well  employed  to  obscure  the  thought.  But  the  physician  must  be 

51 


52  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH. 

skillful  in  the  use  of  language  in  order  to  direct  and  control  his  patients, 
as  well  as  to  write,  and  to  understand  the  writings  of  his  fellow  physic- 
ians. The  clergyman  needs  it  to  please,  to  inform,  to  convince,  and  to 
persuade  his  auditors.  But  the  technical  man,  that  is,  the  engineer,  the 
architect,  and  the  applied  scientist  of  every  kind,  finds  a  sound,  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  language  essential  to  him  in  every  part  of  his  work. 
A  wide  and  precise  knowledge  of  words  is  required  in  his  reading  as 
well  as  in  his  general  writing ;  in  his  business  and  professional  conversa- 
tions even  more  than  in  those  of  a  social  nature.  But,  in  the  prepara- 
tion and  interpretation  of  technical  correspondence,  specifications,  and 
contracts,  the  use  of  perfect  language  reaches  the  highest  degree  of  im- 
portance. The  lawyer  alone  needs  to  be  so  much  of  a  precisian,  and 
he  attains  that  end  by  very  awkward  and  cumbersome  means. 

The  technical  man  of  the  highest  order  is  not  only  a  cultured 
gentleman,  versed  in  all  the  amenities  of  polite  society,  familiar  with  the 
best  literature  in  his  own  language  and  probably  in  that  of  one  or  two 
others,  able  to  read  many  branches  of  learning  understandingly  and 
to  discuss  them  intelligently ;  but,  in  addition,  he  has  special  knowledge 
of  mathematics  and  the  applied  sciences,  and  he  is  not  only  able  to  under- 
stand what  is  written  or  spoken  but  can  express  his  own  thought 
regarding  them  readily,  accurately,  and  logically.  The  successful  tech- 
nical man,  it  has  been  well  said,  must  know  much  about  everything  and 
everything  about  something,  but  his  ideas  and  knowledge  are  of  small 
value  except  in  so  far  as  he  can  convey  them  to  others ;  for,  since  he 
does  not  often  labor  with  his  hands,  he  must  instruct  and  direct  those 
who  do.  Thus,  language  is  his  most  important  tool,  and  it  certainly 
behooves  him  to  see  that  it  is  always  in  good  order.  His  reputation  as 
a  gentleman  and  as  a  professional  man  depends  very  largely  upon  his 
knowledge  and  use  of  English. 

Perfect  English  is  impossible,  for  there  is  no  absolute  standard. 
Read  any  critical  work  on  the  language  and  you  will  find  exhibited 
examples  of  faulty  construction  and  of  erroneous  use  of  words  taken 
from  books  by  writers  of  the  highest  repute.  Pope,  a  precisian  him- 
self, is  frequently  inaccurate.  Johnson,  whose  chief  work  deals  with 
the  use  of  language,  is  bombastic  in  his  writings,  "makes  little  fishes 
talk  like  whales."  Addison,  whose  English  prose  has  long  been  con- 
sidered the  highest  example  of  purity  and  elegance  in  style,  is  often 
grossly  inaccurate,  sometimes  positively  slovenly.  But  the  English  em- 
ployed by  writers  of  the  highest  rank,  such  as  Milton,  Goldsmith,  Gibbon, 
Macaulay,  Johnson,  Hallam,  Hume,  Hawthorne,  Motley,  Irving,  Pres- 
cott,  Ruskin,  and  Stevenson,  is  the  most  perfect  standard  attainable.  The 
usage  of  the  best  writers  and  speakers  of  the  time  is  our  highest 


HARRINGTON.  53 

authority,  but  even  usage  is  governed  by  precedent  and  reason.  The 
language  grows.  New  words  are  formed  as  they  are  needed;  old  ones 
become  obsolete;  current  words  acquire  new  meanings;  and  construc- 
tions change;  consequently,  no  permanent  standard  can  be  set  up,  but 
usage  must  continue  to  change  with  the  needs  of  English  speaking  people. 
One  must  speak  the  English  of  the  present  time,  but  the  right  use  of 
the  language  demands  conservatism,  judgment,  and  taste  in  making 
additions  or  changes.  Each  new  dictionary  offered  contains,  according 
to  the  advertisements,  a  large  number  of  words  not  to  be  found  in  any 
other.  This  seems  to  indicate  rapid  growth  of  the  language,  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  has  grown  little  since  Shakespeare's  day.  The  vaunted 
new  words  are  largely  gross  barbarisms,  entirely  out  of  keeping  with 
good  usage,  and  consequently  their  life  is  short.  The  history  of  the 
language  is  of  great  value  in  determining  what  is  correct  usage,  but 
reason  and  good  taste  are  more  perfect  guides.  No  usage  is  good  which 
is  not  in  accord  with  them. 

Bad  English  generally  springs  from  ignorance  and  carelessness, 
quite  as  often  from  the  one  as  from  the  other,  but  our  newspaper- 
writers,  and  often  our  magazine-writers,  are  guilty  of  intentional  abuse 
of  the  language.  The  newspapers  reflect  only  the  surface  of  life  and 
rarely  treat  of  substantial  things ;  hence,  they  are,  in  the  main,  care- 
lessly written;  but  they  also  deal  largely  in  fine  writing,  employ  large 
words  and  high  sounding  phrases  in  the  discussion  of  simple  matters, 
strive  by  exaggeration  to  excite  wonder,  and  indulge  freely  in  the 
use  of  slang.  Their  style  is  frequently,  even  commonly,  bombastic  and 
ridiculous,  their  matter  stilted  nonsense.  This  is  especially  true  when 
engineering  and  other  scientific  matters  are  the  subjects  under  discus- 
sion. Busy  and  sane  men  are  provoked  to  find  simple  items  of  interest 
which  might  be  fully  stated  in  a  few  words  expanded  into  long,  tedious 
articles,  filled  with  big,  misused  words;  but  the  greater  portion  of  the 
people  read  little  else  than  the  newspapers  and  seem  to  like  the  ma- 
terial they  offer  and  the  language  they  employ.  When  these  facts  are 
taken  into  consideration,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  newspaper's  style  is 
not  in  more  general  use ;  it  is  a  matter  for  congratulation  and  speaks 
well  for  the  common  sense  of  the  people  that  the  newspapers  have  not 
caused  greater  corruption  of  the  language. 

The  magazines  are  somewhat  better  in  the  English  employed, 
but  they  are,  as  a  rule,  far  below  their  professed  standard.  Hastily 
written  stories,  "pot-boilers"  that  are  not  worth  reading,  fill  a  large 
portion  of  their  pages;  and  many  of  the  cheaper  magazines  are  well 
supplied  with  pretentiously  written  descriptions  of  engineering  works 
and  the  discoveries  and  enterprises  of  applied  chemistry.  The  maga- 


54  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH. 

zines,  like  the  newspapers,  cater  to  the  popular  demand  for  marvels  by 
publishing  ill-written,  pseudo-scientific  articles  in  which  mole-hills  always 
appear  as  mountains. 

Our  technical  periodicals  are  decidedly  better,  for,  though  much 
of  their  matter  is  hastily  and  carelessly  prepared  and  much  of  it  gives 
abundant  evidence  of  the  writers'  ignorance  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  language,  it  is  written  in  an  honest  spirit  and  is  not 
padded  or  bombastic.  Frequently  the  English  is  so  crude,  the  thought 
so  ill-expressed,  that  the  matter  fails  to  obtain,  much  less  hold,  the 
reader's  attention.  Long  discussions  appear  in  the  columns  which  are 
open  to  correspondence,  because  terms  are  so  carelessly  employed  that 
their  import  is  not  clear  and  disagreement  results.  It  is  not  desirable 
that  technical  articles  be  elegantly  or  entertainingly  written,  but  it  is  very 
important  that  their  style  be  clear  and  concise  and  the  diction  accurate. 

Some  of  the  better  magazines  print  only  carefully  selected  matter 
and  reject  everything  but  scholarly,  well  written  articles.  Their  influence 
upon  the  language  is  quite  as  good  as  that  of  the  better  books  of  the 
day;  but  the  well  written  article  costs  more  money  than  the  "pot- 
boiler," hence,  the  magazine  is  more  expensive,  its  circulation  is  limited, 
and  it  influences  a  smaller  number  of  readers  than  does  its  cheap  and  less 
worthy  competitor. 

Periodical  literature,  if  we  may  so  designate  the  newspapers  and 
magazines,  has  been  thus  discussed  because  it  exerts  enormous  influence, 
much  of  it  for  evil,  upon  our  language.  Undoubtedly  it  has  rendered 
large  service  in  aiding  the  foreign-born  part  of  our  people  to  gain  a 
working  knowledge  of  the  language  quickly;  and  it  has,  probably  more 
than  any  other  agency,  broken  down  any  tendency  toward  the  forma- 
tion of  sectional  differences  in  the  use  of  English,  for  while  we  hear  more 
or  less  of  the  peculiarities  of  speech  in  the  South  and  in  New  England, 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  differences  in  the  language  of  educated  people 
are  of  small  importance.  Again,  by  no  means  all  newspaper  English  is 
bad.  Many  journals  are  ably  edited  and  publish  leaders  whose  English  is 
of  the.  best,  but  the  language  employed  in  the  body  of  substantially  all 
newspapers  abounds  in  gross  errors. 

The  only  influence  which  has  greater  sway  over  usage  than 
periodical  literature  is  the  ordinary  language  of  every  day  life.  The 
language  of  childhood  is  exceedingly  persistent.  In  fact  some  able 
writers  on  the  subject  go  so  far  as  to  insist  that  one's  English  can- 
not be  improved  by  study  after  maturity,  that  the  usage  of  childhood 
will,  with  very  slight  modification,  govern  through  life;  but  it  seems 
hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  view  is  extreme.  If  it  were  correct, 
the  increasingly  large  amount  of  instruction  in  English  given  in  our 


HARRINGTON.  55 

high  schools,  colleges,  and  universities  would  be  almost  wholly 
wasted.  To  associate  intimately  with  cultured  people  who  speak 
good  English,  and  to  read  well  written  books,  are  undoubtedly  the 
easiest,  most  satisfactory,  and  most  profitable  methods  of  acquiring 
and  retaining  good  usage;  but  it  seems  irrational  to  question  the 
value  of  sound  instruction  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  language 
It  may  be  that  by  taking  thought  one  cannot  add  one  cubit  to  his 
stature,  but  by  giving  the  matter  close  attention  one  can  certainly 
improve  one's  use  of  the  King's  English.  It  is  true  that  the  in- 
fluence of  early  habit  is  very  strong.  Men  who  have  rooted  out  bad 
habits  and  acquired  a  good  command  of  English,  often,  in  moments 
of  excitement,  revert  to  the  earlier  usage,  just  as  one  who  was  foreign 
born  will  often  revert  to  his  mother  tongue.  But  there  is  abundant 
reason  to  doubt  that  habits  are  ever  so  firmly  fixed  that  they  cannot 
be  altered  by  exercising  care.  Our  position  would  be  rather  hope- 
less if  mental  growth  ceased  at  physical  maturity.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  style  of  even  our  greatest  writers  improves  with  years. 

Technical  men  are  peculiarly  prone  to  offend  in  the  use  of  their 
mother  tongue,  because  they  have  not,  as  a  rule,  read  deeply  in 
classical  literature  nor  been  instructed  thoroughly  in  the  construction 
of  the  language.  Their  higher  education  is  generally  almost  entirely 
technical.  Most  of  the  engineering  schools  now  require  for  matricu- 
lation substantially  the  same  subjects  that  the  colleges  do,  but  some 
of  the  best  still  admit  students  with  little  more  than  a  grammar 
school  education,  supplemented  by  the  rudiments  of  the  natural 
sciences  and  elementary  mathematics.  Cultural  subjects  are  never 
required  to  any  great  extent,  and  they  cannot  be  taught  in  the  course. 
The  curriculum  is  already  well  filled  with  scientific,  mathematical, 
and  technical  subjects,  and  there  is  not  room  for  a  deep  study  of 
literature  and  the  languages.  The  technical  man  who  has  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  English  has  had  the  wisdom  and  patience  to  supple- 
ment his  technical  education  by  an  arts  course,  has  read  widely  of 
classic  literature,  or  possesses  the  rare  gift  of  language.  Long  con- 
tinued and  intimate  association  with  those  who  employ  excellent 
English  will  ensure  reasonably  good  usage,  in  fact  such  association 
is  almost  essential,  no  matter  what  the  education  may  be;  but  the 
knowledge  of  the  language  so  acquired  generally  breaks  down  when 
it  is  applied  to  technical  matters  in  which  extreme  accuracy  is  a 
requisite  and  in  which  the  terms  differ  much  from  those  used  in 
ordinary  conversation.  There  is  no  royal  road  to  a  knowledge  of 
technical  English. 

Some  of  our   better   universities   are   now   offering   a   six-years' 


56  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH. 

course  which  combines  the  usual  arts  and  technical  courses,  each  of 
which  ordinarily  occupies  four  years,  but  which  have  many  subjects 
in  common.  This  is  a  decided  step  in  the  right  direction,  for  techni- 
cal men  generally  are  coming  into  a  more  complete  realization  of 
their  deficiencies  and  are  insisting  that  young  technists  be  more 
liberally  educated.  The  professional  man  does  not  always  remain 
a  technist,  in  fact  he  frequently  becomes  a  man  of  affairs  as  well, 
where  a  liberal  education  is  even  more  essential  than  in  his  purely 
technical  work. 

Before  passing  to  a  consideration  of  the  specific  advantages 
enjoyed  by  the  technical  man  who  uses  good  English,  let  us  glance 
at  some  of  the  grosser  faults  of  which  so  many  are  guilty,  for  there 
is  no  better  way  to  attain  a  comprehension  of  the  good  than  by 
contrasting  it  with  the  bad.  It  has  been  well  said  that  it  is  no 
virtue  to  speak  good  English,  but  that  it  is  a  disgrace  to  use  bad 
English.  The  upright  man  does  not  feel  the  burden  of  the  law, 
but  to  the  criminal  it  is  oppressive. 

You  will  say  that  it  is  absurd  to  state  that  men  who  have 
graduated  from  any  college  cannot  spell  correctly,  but  many  of 
them  cannot.  S-e-d,  said,  p-e-a-r,  pier  are  extreme  but  true  ex- 
amples. It  is  very  common  to  find  misspelled  words  in  letters 
written  by  young  engineers.  They  consider  such  errors  of  no 
material  consequence,  because  they  are  not  technical  errors.  The 
mind  has  been  so  fixed  upon  the  scientific  work  during  the  course 
of  study,  and  while  the  early  experience  is  being  acquired,  that 
such  matters  as  language  and  culture  seem  to  be  of  little  import- 
ance. But  the  recipient  of  the  letter  generally  takes  a  different  view 
of  the  matter,  for  he  justly  considers  the  writter  something  of  an 
ignoramus. 

Errors  of  orthography  and  orthoepy  are  both  due  to  unpar- 
donable carelessness  and  ignorance,  for  any  one  can  learn  to  spell 
and  to  pronounce  correctly,  and  no  man  should  be  given  a  degree 
or  a  diploma  by  any  institution  of  learning  unless  he  does  so 
habitually. 

Grossly  bad  grammar  is  also  very  common.  It  generally  arises 
from  carelessness  in  ordering  the  thought  and  speech  rather  than 
from  lack  of  knowledge  of  correct  usage,  but  it  is  frequently  attri- 
buted to  ignorance,  and  certainly  the  penalty  is  not  too  severe.  In 
many  instances,  however,  ignorance  is  the  true  cause  of  the  error. 
The  study  of  grammar  commonly  ceases  when  the  student  leaves 
the  graded  schools.  Thereafter,  he  assumes  that  his  knowledge  of 
the  subject  is  full  and  complete  and  that  he  need  give  it  no  further 


HARRINGTON.  57 

attention,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  his  capacity  for  thought 
and  the  need  of  means  for  its  expression  continue  to  increase.  His 
vocabulary  grows;  but  his  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  principles 
which  govern  its  use  not  only  does  not  expand  as  his  needs  require, 
but  it  is  allowed  to  become  uncertain  and  to  diminish  through  lack 
of  exercise.  When  the  matter  is  thought  of  at  all,  it  is  assumed 
that  in  some,  vague,  uncertain  way  habit  will  serve,  instead  of  knowl- 
edge and  understanding.  The  grammar  is  put  away,  like  other 
childish  things. 

Some  prominent  writers  state  that  the  English  language  is 
without  grammar  because  inflection  is  absent  and  the  position  of 
the  words  in  respect  to  each  other  is  depended  upon  to  make  their 
meaning  clear,  but  this  is  an  extreme  view.  It  is  true  that  most 
of  our  grammars  only  catalogue  the  rules  without  explaining  their 
origin  and  history,  but  the  rules  are  none  the  less  existent  and  bind- 
ing upon  us.  They  were  developed  by  the  English  people  in  the 
course  of  the  evolution  of  the  language,  not  by  the  grammarians 
who  formulated  them ;  and  sentences  which  are  not  constructed  in 
accord  with  them  will  fail  in  their  purpose.  The  lack  of  inflection, 
however,  affords  a  degree  of  flexibility  not  attained  in  any  other 
language.  Because  the  laws  of  English  are  less  frigid  than  those 
of  other  tongues  we  are  not  only  none  the  less  obliged  to  observe 
them,  but  we  are  also  obliged  to  supplement  them  by  a  careful 
observance  of  precedent  and  reason  and  to  study  the  usage  of  those 
who  serve  as  examples. 

But  the  highest  skill  in  the  use  of  language  is  not  attained  when 
our  words  are  properly  spelled  or  pronounced  and  our  sentences 
formed  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  grammar.  In  fact  these 
are  only  bare  and  absolute  essentials — the  skeleton  of  our  language 
which  must  still  be  provided  with  flesh  and  blood  and  nerves  before 
it  will  live  and  fulfill  its  mission.  The  whole  purpose  for  which 
language  is  employed  is  to  impress  our  thought  upon  others  in 
such  a  way  that  they  shall  feel  or  think  or  act  as  we  desire.  To 
attain  this  end  it  is  essential  that  we  make  intelligent  use  of  the 
arts  of  rhetoric  and  oratory,  that  we  know  the  laws  of  composition, 
the  methods  of  ordering  and  constructing  our  discourse  so  that  it 
will  lead  the  minds  of  our  hearers  wherever  we  wish,  and  not  only 
convey  our  thought  but  induce  our  auditors  to  think  along  the 
lines  that  will  benefit  our  purpose. 

The  style  of  the  discourse  must  be  pleasing  and  suited  to  the 
object.  Especially  for  the  technical  man's  purpose,  it  should  be 
crisp  and  clear.  An  elegant,  showy  style  weakens  the  discourse 
and  is  wholly  undesirable  except  where  immediate  oratorical  effect 


58  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH. 

is  sought.  Deliberate  elegance  is  a  certain  indication  of  pedantry 
and  affectation  and  is  often  a  sign  of  lack  of  breeding.  Short  words 
of  English  origin  are  invariably  stronger  and  more  rugged  than  their 
longer  and  more  elegant  synonyms  which  are  derived  from  the 
Latin  or  Greek ;  hence  their  use  is  nearly  always  to  be  preferred 
except  where  the  subject  matter  is  abstruse  or  where  nice  distinctions 
in  meaning  are  important.  Then  the  Greek  and  Latin  derivatives 
are  frequently  the  more  serviceable.  But  simplicity  and  force  de- 
mand simple,  direct  language.  The  style  should  be  so  smooth  and 
so  unostentatious  that  the  hearer's  attention  is  not  drawn  to  the 
language,  but  is  left  entirely  free  to  follow  the  course  of  the  thought. 

It  is  deplorably  rare  to  find  young  technical  men  in  possession 
of  an  intimate  knowledge  of  rhetoric.  Business  correspondence  is 
often  annoyingly  protracted  because  one  or  both  of  the  parties  con- 
ducting it  ignore  the  simple  law  of  unity  and  fail  to  round  out  and 
complete  the  subject  under  discussion.  Errors  of  style  and  gross 
errors  of  composition  are  quite  as  frequent  in  the  correspondence 
of  the  technically  educated  man  as  they  are  in  that  of  the  ordinary 
clerk  who  went  to  work  when  he  left  the  grammar  school.  It  is 
because,  engineers  are  so  little  accustomed  to  order  their  thought 
and  language  properly  that  they  have  so  little  part  in  the  business 
and  correspondence  of  the  corporations  which  employ  them.  It  is 
notorious  that  a  technist  is  rarely  a  good  business  man.  This  is 
partly  because  of  the  exaggerated  importance  he  gives  to  technical 
matters,  but  very  largely  because  his  thought  is  clumsily  expressed 
and  awkwardly  ordered. 

The  great  value  of  the  careful  reading  of  good  books  lies  very 
largely  in  the  increased  vocabulary  and  in  the  deeper  knowledge  of 
the  nice  distinctions  in  the  meaning  and  the  use  of  words.  Two 
persons  using  the  same  dictionary  will  read  definitions  differently ; 
and  definitions  are,  at  best,  only  the  lexicographer's  opinion  as  to 
what  is  the  most  general  or  most  authoritative  use  of  words.  He 
records  not  only  all  the  words  he  finds  in  use,  good  and  bad  alike, 
unless  they  are  manifestly  slang,  but  all  the  meanings  of  each,  as 
well ;  and  he  does  not  attempt,  except  in  a  very  general  way,  when 
he  advises  that  a  word  is  obsolete  or  colloquial,  to  instruct  regard- 
ing usage.  Good  diction,  however,  cannot  be  acquired  by  reading 
alone.  As  words  new  to  the  vocabulary  suggest  themselves  in  the 
course  of  one's  thought,  great  care  must  be  taken  to  see  that  they 
are  good  words  and  that  they  are  fully  understood,  for  half  knowl- 
edge is  worse  than  ignorance.  One  has  not  made  a  word  his  own 
till  he  can  use  it  correctly  without  thought  or  hesitation.  The  mean- 
ings of  words  vary  widely  and  by  nice  differences,  but  ordinary  lack  of 


HARRINGTON.  59 

energy  to'  study  and  use  the  words  which  come  into  the  mind  is 
the  chief  cause  of  the  poverty  of  language,  which  is  often  mis- 
taken for  poverty  of  thought.  It  is  a  common  habit,  when  the 
meaning  of  a  word  which  has  suggested  itself  is  not  fully  under- 
stood, to  employ  another  which  may  imperfectly  express  the  idea, 
but  the  meaning  of  which  is  known.  Thus  the  vocabulary  remains 
limited  and  inefficient  through  common  laziness. 

There  are  many  gross  faults  of  diction  caused  by  ignorance  or 
carelessness  or  both,  such  as  the  misuse  of  prepositions;  the  con- 
fusion of  like  and  as  and  of  lie  and  lay;  the  use  of  get  to  express 
possession,  of  grow  for  become;  and  the  formation  of  verbs  from 
nouns;  but  they  are  as  nothing  compared  to  the  use  of  cant  and 
slang. 

Rigidity  of  ideas  and  poverty  of  language  are  chiefly  responsible 
for  cant,  which  is  a  fashion  of  using  certain  words  in  one  legitimate 
sense  to  the  exclusion  of  others,  as  though  they  possess  a  certain 
virtue  which,  because  of  this  use,  becomes  peculiar  to  the  user.  It 
is  closely  akin  to  slang,  but  the  words  used  are  always  genuine,  and 
they  are1  soberly  and  honestly  employed.  Its  use  is  a  certain  indi- 
cation of  a  lack  of  breadth  and  arouses  a  kind  of  contempt  for  the 
user  in  the  minds  of  more  liberal  thinkers. 

Slang  consists  of  words,  good  and  bad,  and  unmeaning  jargon 
used  in  an  arbitrary  and  conventional  sense,  generally  with  humor- 
ous purpose.  But  such  humor  is  of  the  very  cheapest  kind,  and  it 
at  once  casts  suspicion  upon  the  entire  discourse.  Slang  is  rarely, 
if  ever,  permissible  in  writing,  certainly  not  in  business  correspond- 
ence or  in  formal  engineering  documents ;  but,  if  good  taste  govern, 
it  may  occasionally  be  used  with  good  effect  in  conversation.  Slang 
that  has  come  into  general  use  is  invariably  vulgar.  "Genteel"  and 
"elegant"  are  mere  crudities,  but  no  one  of  good  taste  and  breeding 
will  employ  "That's  right,"  "Sure,"  "I  don't  think,"  "Nit,"  "Hully 
Gee,"  "Drive  you  to  drink,"  and  similar  words  and  expressions,  for 
they  smack  of  the  gutter. 

Those  who  know  the  language  so  well  that  they  use  it  correctly, 
yet  unconsciously,  may  gain  ease  of  expression  by  taking  liberties  with 
it  in  conversation ;  but  the  grosser  errors  in  tense,  person,  and  number 
are  never  permissible.  Only  the  pedant  will  insist  upon  the  use  in 
conversation  of  the  dignified  language  of  formal  literature;  but  liberty 
is  not  license ;  and  pedantry  is  preferable  to  vulgarity. 

A  grammar  which  was  once,  and,  for  all  I  know,  is  still  in  general 
use  states  that  "We  think  in  words  and  when  we  lack  fit  words  we  lack- 
fit  thoughts."  The  statement  sounds  well  and  was  generally  accepted 


60  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH. 

without  question  by  both  teacher  and  scholar,  but  like  many  another 
plausible  saying,  it  is  only  half  true.  When  we  lack  fit  words  we 
certainly  lack  fit  expression  for  our  thought;  but  who  has  not  sought 
urgently,  even  desperately,  for  a  word  to  express  the  thought  pre- 
cisely and  failed  to  find  it.  The  sense  of  the  idea  was  clear  and  per- 
sisted, but  the  word  would  not  come.  And  how  much  thought  does 
the  Latin's  shrug  of  the  shoulders,  the  Jew's  out-turned  palms,  or  our 
own  facial  expression  convey  for  which  no  word  was  ever  formed,  even 
in  the  mind.  These  expedients  are  employed  to  save  language.  They 
are  suggestive,  sometimes  vague,  but  often  exceedingly  effective.  They, 
like  the  spoken  word,  are  liable  to  misinterpretation;  but  they  are  none 
the  less  legitimate  modes  of  expression. 

One  of  my  college  professors  used  to  say  when  he  had  mistaken 
my  meaning  that  my  thought  was  not  properly  expressed  or  he  could 
not  misunderstand  it.  If  we  all  possessed  a  perfect  knowledge  of  every 
detail  of  the  language,  if  laws  of  construction  and  the  meanings  of 
words  were  absolutely  fixed,  this  idea  would  be  correct;  but  such  a 
condition  is  impossible,  and  we  shall  go  on  misunderstanding  each  other 
till  the  end  of  time.  But  the  more  nearly  we  approach  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  the  language,  the  more  nearly  perfect  a  tool  will  it  prove  to  be. 

If  words  are  well  chosen  and  the  construction  is  in  accordance 
with  good  usage,  it  is  very  probable  that  the  thought  will  be  reasonably 
well  conveyed,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  character  of  the  audience. 
At  least  we  shall  have  done  all  that  is  possible  by  means  of  language  to 
make  ourselves  understood;  but  as  we  depart  from  the  ordinary  small 
talk  of  every  day  life  and  deal  with  the  unusual  or  abstruse  subjects 
of  philosophy,  religion,  or  science,  the  terms  become  more  uncommon 
and  less  generally  known,  the  meaning  is  the  more  liable  to  be  mistaken, 
and  consequently,  it  is  all  the  more  essential  that  the  best  usage  be 
carefully  observed. 

So  far  reaching  are  the  effect  of  a  difference  in  the  meanings 
given  to  words  or  expressions  that  schools  of  philosophy  which  seem 
widely  at  variance  often  differ  little  except  in  the  definitions  of  the 
fundamental  terms  employed.  Many  a  heated  argument,  many  a  loss 
of  temper  and  of  friendship,  many  a  suit  at  law,  and  many  a  life-long- 
enmity  would  be  entirely  avoided  if  the  principals  would  temperately 
define  the  terms  of  their  differences. 

The  character  of  the  technical  man's  language  is  important  in  his 
social  and  business  intercourse ;  in  his  business  and  professional  cor- 
respondence; in  the  promulgation  of  orders,  rules,  and  regulations  for 
the  guidance  of  those  under  his  direction;  in  the  preparation  of  specifica- 
tions, contracts,  and  reports ;  in  writing  and  delivering  addresses  and 


HARRINGTON.  61 

technical  papers;  and  in  writing  technical  books  for  the  advancement 
of  his  profession. 

In  conversation,  earnestness  and  force  may,  in  some  measure,  coun- 
teract the  evil  influence  of  bad  English;  but,  since  less  care  is  com- 
monly given  to  the  spoken  word  than  to  the  written,  the  results  of  bad 
habits  of  speech  are  much  the  same  in  either  case ;  and  in  moments  of 
special  interest  or  excitement  the  habitual  language  is  employed.  Speech 
is  usually  heard  but  once,  therefore  its  errors  are  much  more  likely  to 
pass  unnoticed  than  those  which  are  written  and  may  be  read  repeated- 
ly; and  the  audience  of  the  speaker  is  much  more  limited  than  that  of 
the  writer;  therefore  it  would  seem  less  important  to  speak  than  to 
write  correctly.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  conversation  there 
is  no  time,  as  a  rule,  to  give  thought  to  the  form  of  speech;  and  that 
all  the  errors  one  is  accustomed  to  make  are  liable  to  occur.  The  habit 
of  using  good  English  should  be  so  firmly  fixed  that  one  is  not  conscious 
of  it. 

A  technical  man  is,  presumably,  an  educated  man;  and  if  he  do  not 
speak  like  one,  suspicion  is  cast  upon  the  entire  range  of  his  learning. 
When  a  man  cannot  spell  correctly,  or  use  ordinarily  good  grammar 
(and  there  are  many  university  men  who  cannot)  it  is  difficult  to  con- 
vince others  that  he  is  professionally  able.  The  great  majority  of  tech- 
nical men  occupy  salaried  positions  in  the  organizations  of  railways, 
governments,  constructing  companies,  and  manufacturing  corporations. 
These  positions  are  obtained  by  means  of  acquaintances  made  in  a  social 
way,  by  interview,  by  correspondence,  or  on  account  of  an  earned 
reputation.  Yet  I  have  granted  interviews  to  many  technical  men  who 
spoke  like  laborers,  and  have  received  hundreds  of  letters  from  them 
that  would  be  a  disgrace  to  a  grammar  school  scholar.  There  are 
technically  educated  men  who  say  "I  have  saw,"  "I  seen,"  and  "I  done" ; 
and  there  are  men  in  high  places  who  require  no  further  proof  of  the 
speaker's  deep  ignorance,  not  only  of  English  but  of  technical  matters 
as  well.  One  who  is  thus  ignorant  of  the  language  finds  social  pro- 
gress substantially  impossible.  This  may  seem  a  trivial  matter  and 
foreign  to  our  purpose,  but  it  is  not.  Matters  of  very  large  importance 
are  often  settled  by  favor,  and  favor  frequently  follows  social  position. 
Other  things  being  equal,  almost  anyone  will  show  his  friend  the  pref- 
erence in  business  or  professional  matters.  It  is  even  common  to 
stretch  a  point  in  favor  of  a  friend. 

Language  has  large  weight  in  classifying  a  man,  infinitely  more 
than  manner  or  dress.  It  exhibits  his  breeding  and  indicates  his  social 
status.  I  do  not  mean  that  it  shows  whether  he  belongs  to  the  so 
called  "Smart  Set,"  but  whether  he  is  of  the  educated,  cultured  class, 


62  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH. 

whether  you  would  care  to  entertain  him  at  all,  and,  if  so,  whether  you 
would  send  him  to  your  less  or  more  select  club,  or  whether  you  may 
extend  the  extreme  courtesy  of  inviting  him  to  your  home.  This  may 
appear  at  first  glance  to  be  of  small  consequence ;  but  great  things  often 
result  from  associations  quickly  formed.  In  fact,  such  social  relations 
make  largely  for  success  or  failure  in  the  business  or  professional  world. 
Many  have  received  the  opportunity  which  led  to  eminence  through 
the  recommendation  of  a  casual  acquaintance  who  was  favorably  im- 
pressed. 

There  are  many  vocations  in  which  it  is  not  essential  that  a  man 
be  cultured  and  intelligent;  but  the  technical  professions  are  not  among 
them.  Nothing  so  surely  marks  a  man's  secret  habits  of  thought,  his 
real  character,  as  the  little  tricks  of  speech  which  are  exhibited  when 
his  mind  is  upon  the  matter  rather  than  the  manner  of  his  speech.  If 
his  thought  be  habitually  coarse,  crude,  or  brutal,  his  speech  will  make 
the  fact  manifest  at  times ;  and  the  speech  of  a  moment  frequently  pro- 
duces a  permanent  and  vital  effect. 

In  business  correspondence  the  value  of  good  usage  is  still  more 
manifest  than  in  conversation,  since  the  written  word  is  permanent,  and 
correspondence  greatly  extends  the  field  of  one's  intercourse.  A  letter 
very  probably  passes  through  many  hands  and  multiplies  the  good 
or  bad  impressions  of  the  writer  it  produces.  If  its  import  is  not 
clear,  it  may  cause  disagreement  or  involve  serious  financial  disadvan- 
tage to  the  writer.  Even  bad  punctuation  will  often  seriously  alter 
the  entire  meaning  of  a  sentence,  and  particularly  bad  grammar  at 
once  stamps  a  writer  as  being  more  or  less  of  an  ignoramus.  The 
art  of  letter  writing,  like  a  knowledge  of  grammar,  is  commonly  con- 
sidered to  be  within  the  range  of  everyone's  learning  and  skill ;  but 
anyone  who  has  had  large  experience  in  business  correspondence  knows 
that  few  men  write  good  letters.  It  is  so  rare  to  find  a  matter  which 
is  composed  of  more  than  one  or  two  items,  clearly,  concisely,  and 
thoroughly  discussed  in  a  letter  that  favorable  attention  is  immediately 
attracted  to  its  writer.  Not  a  few  men  owe  the  opportunity  for  ad- 
vancement to  their  ability  to  write  a  good  letter.  Even  though  one 
be  thoroughly  versed  in  his  subject  and  his  discourse  be  well  worth 
the  time  and  attention  of  men  of  affairs,  bad  grammar  will  cast  such 
suspicion  over  his  whole  equipment  of  learning  that  his  argument  will 
often  be  put  aside  without  substantial  consideration.  Bad  grammar  is 
not  a  bar  to  the  acquisition  of  money,  but  it  substantially  prohibits 
the  acquisition  of  high  position  in  the  scientific  world. 

The  detrimental  results  of  bad  English  in  conversation  or  in 
correspondence  are  by  no  means  so  certain  as  in  the  more  formal 


HARRINGTON.  63 

technical  papers.  In  the  preparation  of  articles  for  the  technical 
press,  and  papers  for  the  learned  societies,  there  is  time  to  study 
form  and  style  and  to  eliminate  errors  due  to  haste;  hence,  when 
such  matters  are  ill  written,  it  is  not  unfairly  argued  that  the  writer 
is  ignorant  of  the  correct  use  of  the  language.  Such  an  opinion, 
widely  disseminated,  as  it  is  likely  to  be  when  it  originates  thus,  is 
exceedingly  detrimental  to  the  writer.  It  weakens  his  arguments, 
causes  him  to  be  misunderstood,  or  so  detracts  from  the  interest  of 
his  readers  that  the  matter  is  not  read.  The  idea  that  a  technical 
paper  is  dry  at  best,  and  that  the  English  employed  in  it  is  of  small 
consequence  has  long  been  proved  incorrect.  There  is  so  much 
nowadays  that  is  well  written  that  no  busy  professional  man  is 
willing  to  spare  the  extra  time  and  effort  necessary  to  read  and 
digest  an  ill  written  paper. 

A  merchant  may  advertise  his  wares,  a  manufacturer  his 
product,  but  reasonable  modesty  and  his  code  of  ethics  prevent  a 
professional  man  from  advertising  his  skill.  If  he  does  not  be- 
come known  by  his  work  or  his  writings,  he  remains  in  comparative 
obscurity.  His  ability  is  clearly  exposed  in  his  writings,  in  which 
he  gives  to  the  profession  his  best  thought ;  and  if  he  cannot  write 
easily  and  well  he  will  probably  not  write  at  all,  for  the  censor- 
ship of  the  learned  societies  is  now  severe  and  is  rapidly  growing 
more  so.  Every  normal,  healthy-minded  technical  man  desires  to 
leave  a  permanent  record  of  the  results  of  his  best  thought  and  work 
to  aid  his  co-workers,  and  those  who  come  after  him.  An  ably 
written  description  of  work  performed,  discoveries  made,  or  methods 
developed  accomplishes  more  for  the  advancement  of  science  than 
many  well  designed  and  well  executed  constructions.  The  latter 
benefit  those  who  see  them;  the  former  may  help  all  who  can  read. 

Provoking  and  expensive  errors  often  arise  from  the  misunder- 
standing of  badly  expressed  orders,  rules,  and  regulations.  In  large 
corporations,  especially  in  railway,  contracting,  and  engineering- 
companies  where  employees  are  distributed  over  a  wide  area,  it  is 
impossible  for  an  officer  to  give  individual  instructions,  or  to  see 
personally  that  they  are  carried  out;  hence,  general  instructions 
must  be  so  clear  that  they  cannot  be  misunderstood  or  evaded.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  consequences  of  a  mistake  in 
train  orders,  in  instructions  regarding  breaking  track  for  repairs  or 
renewals,  or  for  making  temporary  construction  to  span  washouts, 
may  result  in  expensive  and  fatal  accidents.  And  even  minor  errors, 
oft  repeated,  may  prove  very  costly. 

But  the   preparation  of  reports,  specifications,  and   contracts   is 


64  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH. 

the  most  particular  and  momentuous  task  the  technical  man  has  to 
perform.  A  misused  word,  a  phrase  whose  meaning  is  ambiguous, 
a  paragraph  that  is  confused,  or  the  omission  of  a  direction  or  a 
precaution,  may  result  in  great  damage,  to  both  the  client  and  the 
technical  man.  It  is  not  enough  to  be  careful  in  a  general  way. 
Every  word,  every  phrase,  every  sentence,  has  a  direct  and  vital 
bearing  on  the  work  governed  by  the  documents.  I  have  known 
the  presence  in  a  contract  of  a  single  word  of  equivocal  meaning  to 
cost  one  of  the  parties  many  thousands  of  dollars,  though  when  the 
contract  was  drawn  there  was  no  question  regarding  the  intent  of 
the  parties  to  it.  Probably  the  majority  of  the  civil  law  suits  are 
caused  not  by,  trickery  or  deceit  or  dishonesty,  but  by  the  use  of 
ambiguous  words  and  phrases,  bad  ordering  of  the  matter,  incom- 
pleteness, and  other  faults  'in  the  language  of  the  correspondence, 
specifications,  and  contracts.  There  is  no  more  certain  way  for 
the  engineer  to  protect  his  own  and  his  client's  interests  than  to 
prepare  all  documents  in  accordance  with  the  best  English  usage 
as  well  as  with  technical  skill;  and  there  is  no  surer  way  to  lay  the 
foundation  for  trouble  and  financial  loss  than  to  neglect  the  charac- 
ter of  his  language. 

Notwithstanding  the  vital  importance  of  clear,  concise,  and 
full  expression  in  such  documents,  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find 
specifications  and  contracts  so  bad  in  their  construction  that  they 
fail  utterly  in  their  purpose.  Let  me  quote  an  illustration  from  the 
specifications,  prepared  by  an  architectural  firm  of  some  repute,  for 
the  construction  of  a  building  which  cost  nearly  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

"Material  and  Workmanship.  The  entire  frame  work,  columns, 
beams,  etc.,  as  indicated  by  the  framing  plans,  or  as  specified,  is  to 
be  of  wrought  steel,  of  quality  hereinafter  designated,  all  materials 
to  be  provided  and  put  in  place  by  this  contractor.  All  work  to  be 
done  in  a  neat  and  skillful  manner,  and  is  to  guarantee  the  con- 
struction and  workmanship  with  a  bond  equal  to  amount  of  tender 
for  a  term  of  five  years,  satisfactory  to  the  proprietor  and  architects, 
to  properly  carry  or  support  the  loads  it  is  designated  to  carry,  namely 
its  own  weight,  the  weight  of  the  several  floors,  roof  and  walls 
resting  thereon,  a  10,000  gravity  tank,  and  the  pressure  of  any  wind 
which  may  not  be  designated  a  hurricane,  and  future  three  stories. 
*  *  *  The  floor  beams  are  to  be  calculated  for  a  maximum  load 
of  150  Ibs.  to  the  sq.  ft.  (using  C  type  IV  of  the  Clinton  Fire-Proof 
system,  of  Clinton,  Mass.).  The  columns  are  to  be  calculated  for 
a  vertical  load  above  mentioned  and  for  horizontals  and  wind 
pressure  and  snow  pressure,  also  roof.  The  whole  to  be  calculated 


HARRINGTON.  65 

heavy  enough  for  three  additional  stories  on  building  should  they 
be  put  on  at  any  time,  with  connections  at  top  columns  to  receive 
future  columns.  The  columns  on  ground  floor  supporting  front  to 
be  calculated  in  same  proportion  with  all  the  rods  necessary  where 
shown.  The  whole  of  the  columns  to  be  one  size  throughout,  those 
that  carry  more  weight  reinforced,  and  all  columns  to  be  kept 
as  small  as  possible  in  proper  construction.  Each  column  to  have 
%-inch  holes  bored  or  punched  every  4  ft.  6  in.  in  height  on  each 
corner  (for  use  of  other  trades  to  fasten  metal  lath)." 

The  building  was  constructed  under  these  specifications,  not 
according  to  them ;  that  would  be  impossible.  But  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  the  proprietors  interested  were  not  safe- 
guarded. The  wretched  paragraphs  quoted  are  no  worse  than  a 
contractor  finds  in  specifications  almost  every  day,  for  they  are 
composed,  as  a  large  number  of  engineers  and  architects  compose 
their  specifications,  by  copying  and  combining  sentences  or  para- 
graphs from  various  sources,  instead  of  by  writing  them  from 
fundamental  knowledge  of  the  construction  desired.  In  such  in- 
stances the  client  is  protected  infinitely  more  by  the  honesty, 
knowledge,  and  skill  of  the  contractor  than  by  those  of  the  architect. 

Very  few  railway  specifications  for  complicated  structures  are 
so  well  written  that  a  contractor  cannot  comply  with  them  to  the 
letter,  yet  give  the  company  construction  far  inferior  to  what 
the  writer  of  the  specifications  intended,  and  thereby  gain  for  him- 
self material  advantage. 

The  lawyers  and  the  courts  are  kept  busy  rectifying  the  blun- 
ders of  other  professional  men  who  do  ill  what  they  are  paid  to  do 
well.  I  know  of  one  contractor  who  has  grown  gray  in  the  busi- 
ness of  constructing  buildings,  who  has  never  completed  a  contract 
without  a  lawsuit,  and  who  has  never  lost  a  lawsuit.  This  speaks 
ill  for  the  work  of  the  architects  under  whom  he  worked,  yet  they 
are  probably  no  worse  than  their  fellows.  If  it  were  not  good 
policy  to  be  reasonably  honest,  many  another  contractor  might 
easily  approach  his  record. 

It  would  appear  that  we  have  given  more  attention  to  bad  than 
to  good  English.  This  is  not  illogical,  for,  manifestly,  if  the  bad 
be  eliminated  the  good  will  remain;  and  if  the  evils  arising  from  the 
abuse  of  the  language  be  fully  comprehended,  there  will  certainly 
be  serious  endeavor  to  improve  the  usage.  The  laws  of  the  language 
are  commonly  violated  from  mere  carelessness.  Slang  and  pro- 
vincialisms creep  into  the  speech  and  destroy  its  force  and  elegance ; 
the  expression  becomes  slovenly  and  the  thought  obscure;  and  what 


66  VALUE  OF  ENGLISH. 

constitutes    good    English   is   forgotten    unless    reasonable    attention 
is  paid  to  the  speech. 

It  is  not  given  to  every  one  to  speak  and  write  fluently,  for 
style  of  the  highest  order  is  a  rare  gift ;  but  if  good,  vigorous 
English  be  employed,  a  good,  clear,  characteristic  style  will  soon 
be  developed,  the  thought  will  be  well  impressed  upon  the  audience, 
and  the  influence  of  the  writer  will  be  correspondingly  strengthened. 
Facetiousness,  fine  writing,  and  poesy  are  rarely  of  service  to  the 
technical  man.  Invective  should  almost  never  be  employed.  Sar- 
casm should  be  used  sparingly;  and  nothing  should  be  written  in 
anger.  Remember  that  "whom  the  gods  would  destroy,  they  first 
make  mad,"  and  wait  till  your  anger  has  cooled ;  then  your  just  in- 
dignation may  be  much  more  effectively  expressed  in  firm  but  mod- 
erate language.  This  is  quite  as  much  a  matter  of  language  as  of 
policy  and  ethics,  for  violent  language  is  always  more  violent  than 
the  user  intended  it  to  be. 

Language  itself  is  merely  an  instrument.  Beautiful  English 
does  not  constitute  a  meritorious  discourse.  The  speaker  or  writer 
who  uses  language  correctly  and  fluently  but  expresses  no  im- 
portant thought  is  a  failure;  for  the  sole  service  good  English  can 
render  is  to  convey  the  speaker's  thought  and  purpose  fully  and 
accurately  to  the  minds  of  his  auditors.  But  this  service  alone  will 
amply  repay  years  of  study  and  a  life  of  care  and  attention  to  the 
use  of  the  English  language. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  here  a  number  of  books 
which  I  feel  certain  will  be  found  helpful. 

A  number  of  grammars  published  in  this  country  set  forth  the 
rules  clearly  and  there  are  several  good  etymologies,  but  "Mason's 
English  Grammar,"  published  by  Bell  and  Son,  of  London,  contains, 
in  addition,  much  historical  matter  which  aids  remarkably  in  com- 
prehending the  subject. 

Lockwood's  "Lessons  in  English"  and  "A.  S.  Hill's  Rhetoric" 
are  very  good  elementary  books,  and  "Genung's  Rhetoric"  is  the  best 
of  the  more  advanced  works  on  composition. 

"Every  Day  English"  and  "Words  and  Their  Uses,"  by  Richard 
Grant  White,  are  among  the  best  written  and  sanest  books  which 
treat  of  English  usage.  They  are  substantially  free  from  pedantry, 
a  rare  quality  in  books  of  this  class.  "What  is  Good  English  and 
Other  Essays,"  by  Harry  Thurston  Peck,  also  treats  this  subject  ad- 
mirably, though  it  should  be  read  only  after  a  sound  knowledge  of  the 
technique  of  the  language  has  been  acquired. 


HARRINGTON.  67 

There  are  a  number  of  good  dictionaries.  "The  Century"  is  the 
most  complete  and  scholarly,  with  the  possible  exception  of  an  elabo- 
rate work  now  being  issued  in  parts  from  Oxford  University.  But 
"Webster's  International  Dictionary,"  "Worcester's  Dictionary,"  and  the 
"Standard  Dictionary"  are  good,  serviceable  compilations.  There  are 
several  good  books  of  synonyms,  and  "Roget's  Thesaurus  of  English 
Words"  will  also  be  found  very  helpful  in  rinding  just  the  right  word. 

Winchester's  "Principles  of  Literary  Criticism"  is  not  only  one 
of  the  most  ably  written  works  on  the  subject,  but  is  itself  one  of  the 
finest  examples  of  good  English  we  have.  Sidney  Lanier's  books, 
"Music  and  Poetry"  and  "The  English  Novel,"  are  also  excellent  crit- 
ical works. 

This  list  may  be  greatly  extended;  but  a  thorough  study  of  one 
or  two  good  books  which  treat  each  phase  of  the  study  of  English, 
the  reading  of  literature  of  the  best  classes,  and  reasonable  watchful- 
ness over  one's  every  day  writing  and  conversation,  will  inevitably 
result  in  habitually  correct  use  of  the  English  language. 


THE     NECESSITY     FOR    INDIVIDUAL    ENGINEERING 

LIBRARIES  AND   FOR  CONTINUING  STUDY  AFTER 

GRADUATION. 

By 

John  Lyle  Harrington,  Consulting  Engineer. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  last  paper,  the  Editors  are  not  at  liberty  to 
comment  much  upon  the  contents  of  this  address ;  nevertheless  they 
are  constrained  to  make  the  statement  that  any  engineering  student 
who  fails  to  follow  the  advice  which  it  gives  will  all  his  life  have 
occasion  to  regret  having  done  so.  Consequently,  both  the  entering 
freshman  and  the  recent  graduate  are  earnestly  urged  to  "read,  mark, 
learn,  and  inwardly  digest"  all  that  the  author  says  and  be  governed 
accordingly. 

This  address  was  delivered  in  1908  to  the  engineering  students  of 
the  University  of  Missouri  and  of  the  University  of  Kansas,  and  was 
afterwards  printed  in  pamphlet  form  and  widely  distributed  among  en- 
gineers, professors,  and  students.  The  universal  endorsement  which' 
it  received  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  correctness  of  the  precepts  which 
it  puts  forth,  and  an  irrefutable  reason  for  advising  all  engineering 
students  to  be  guided  by  them. 

Editors. 


69 


THE  NECESSITY  FOR  INDIVIDUAL  ENGINEERING 

LIBRARIES  AND  FOR  CONTINUING  STUDY 

AFTER  GRADUATION. 

By 
John  Lyle  Harrington,  Consulting  Engineer. 

Substantially  every  engineering  graduate  aims  to  achieve  success 
along  professional  lines;  otherwise  his  education  is  largely  a  mistake, 
for  an  engineering  course,  though  it  supplies  mental  training  of  a  high 
order,  offers  very  little  that  is  cultural,  while  a  well  chosen  academic 
course  affords  equal  mental  training  and,  at  the  same  time,  provides 
the  broad,  general  culture  which  is  so  advantageous  in  every  vocation. 
Fame  and  position  may  be  attained  as  a  technist  purely;  that  is  by 
confining  the  attention  wholly  to  the  design  of  engineering  works ;  for 
cities,  railroads,  contractors,  and  the  manufacturers  of  bridges,  loco- 
motives, engines,  electrical  apparatus,  and  other  lines  of  machinery 
need  such  men  and  value  them  highly.  Or,  with  a  sound  knowledge 
of  the  technical  work  for  a  foundation,  success  may  be  won  as  a  sales- 
man or  as  a  manager  of  sales;  as  a  publicity  officer  or  advertising 
manager  for  manufacturing  companies ;  as  an  engineering  educator ; 
as  a  manager  of  works  and  construction ;  as  a  business  or  contracting 
manager;  or  as  an  executive  officer  in  any  corporation  whose  business 
is  based  upon  engineering. 

Both  money  and  position  may  be  gained  as  a  contractor  in  the 
construction  of  engineering  works ;  and  the  field  of  technical  journal- 
ism offers  high  rewards.  But  the  highest  professional  position  is  to 
be  gained  as  an  engineer  in  the  broadest  sense  of  that  term.  This 
requires  the  greatest  possible  technical  skill,  both  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical,  in  some  important  specialty  and  its  allied  branches ;  and  sound 
knowledge  of  the  methods  and  the  business  features  of  construction, 
of  the  law  of  contracts,  of  the  financing  of  engineering  projects,  and 
of  accounting,  including  under  that  term  not  merely  the  bookkeeping 
relating  to  construction,  but  the  consideration  of  operation,  repairs,  re- 
newals, sinking  funds,  and  similar  financial  matters. 

Many  qualifications  are  required  for  a  high  order  of  success.  That 
one  must  have  health  goes  without  saying,  for  without  health  and 
strength  there  cannot  be  hard  and  continuous  labor,  either  mental  or 
physical ;  and  success  of  any  kind  demands  both.  Intelligence  is  neces- 

71 


72  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

sary  to  grasp  the  most  abstruse  principles  of  mathematics  and  the  pure 
sciences  and  to  apply  them  to  available  resources.  Energy  of  the  high- 
est order  must  be  employed  to  study  principles,  men,  methods,  and 
materials  and  to  bring  them  together  so  that  useful  works  shall  re- 
sult. Integrity  is  absolutely  essential  to  high  professional  success;  for 
the  engineer's  position  is  frequently  judicial,  and  he  must  bring  to  his 
work  all  of  the  spirit  of  fairness  that  is  given  to  man.  The  individual- 
ity and  initiative  to  do  original,  thoughtful  work  is  another  essential 
without  which  the  engineer  becomes  a  hack  or  a  grind  who,  though 
a  useful  cog  in  the  machine,  does  little  to  advance  his  profession.  But 
all  these  qualifications  count  for  little  in  the  struggle  for  professional 
success  unless  they  are  supplemented  by  a  sound  engineering  education. 
Thirty  years  or  more  ago  a  great  many  eminent  engineers  obtained 
at  least  their  technical  education  by  their  own  efforts.  Then  the  pro- 
fession was  comparatively  undeveloped,  technical  literature  was  meagre, 
and  it  was  much  easier  than  it  is  today  to  learn  all  that  was  most 
important  of  any  one  branch  of  engineering.  Self  education  is  pos- 
sible now,  but  it  is  rarely  broad,  and  it  generally  fails  at  the  critical 
moment.  The  man  who  has  educated  himself  rarely  has  the  training 
necessary  to  keep  pace  with  the  advancement  of  engineering  science, 
and  he  is  much  more  apt  to  be  a  "rule  of  thumb  engineer"  or  a  copyist 
than  an  original  thinker.  Nowadays  graduation  from  an  engineering 
school  of  good  standing  counts  for  so  much  that  only  the  lower  posi- 
tions are,  as  a  rule,  open  to  the  man  who  is  without  it.  Graduation 
is  a  guarantee  of  a  certain  training,  and  employers  demand  it. 

The  technical  course,  however,  is  only  the  beginning  of  an  engi- 
neer's education,  the  first  stretch  of  a  long  and  interesting  but  difficult 
road.  The  present  requirements  for  admission  to  institutions  of  the 
first  grade  are  as  high  as,  too  often  higher  than,  the  secondary  schools 
are  prepared  to  satisfy,  and  the  four-year  courses  are  crowded  well 
nigh  to  the  limit  of  the  capacity  of  the  average  student;  yet  the  en- 
gineering graduate  is  taught  only  the  elements  of  a  few  important 
branches  and  is  left  substantially  without  knowledge  of  many  subjects 
which  are  closely  allied  to  any  specialty  he  may  choose.  This  is  not 
the  fault  of  the  schools,  for  it  is  their  function  to  perform  the  greatest 
possible  service  to  the  community  which  supports  them,  rather  than 
to  maintain  certain  ideals;  but  it  is  due  to  the  inability  or  unwilling- 
ness of  the  student  to  spend  the  requisite  time  and  energy  upon  his 
education.  To  raise  materially  the  requirements  for  admission  or  to 
increase  the  length  of  the  course  would  diminish  greatly  the  number 
of  students;  and,  while  the  few  would  be  better  prepared,  the  com- 
munity as  a  whole  would  not  be  so  well  served. 


HARRINGTON.  73 

There  is  at  present  a  strong  tendency  to  require  more  work  of 
the  engineering  graduate.  President  Schurman  of  Cornell  University 
is  advocating  a  five-year  engineering  course,  as  Dr.  Waddell  has  been 
doing  for  more  than  twenty  years.  Dartmouth  and  Cornell  urge  a 
special  academic  course  which  leads  to  a  bachelor's  degree  and  includes 
sound  training  in  mathematics,  languages,  and  the  natural  sciences, 
and  which  is  followed  by  a  two-year  course  in  purely  technical  work, 
leading  to  the  professional  degree.  Several  institutions  are  offering 
five-year  courses,  and  many  provide  a  year's  graduate  work  for  those 
who  are  willing  and  able  to  prepare  themselves  more  thoroughly  than 
usual. 

Engineering  educators  very  generally  recognize  that  our  gradu- 
ates are  lacking  both  in  culture  and  in  breadth  of  technical  knowledge; 
and  they  are  earnestly  seeking  means  for  improvement.  Some  prom- 
inent professors  are  beginning  to  demand  a  collegiate  education  in 
preparation  for  the  engineering  study,  just  as  such  training  is  now 
required  in  many  Eastern  schools  in  preparation  for  the  study  of  law 
and  medicine;  for  it  is  evident  that  the  engineer  needs  for  his  highest 
development  more  training,  more  and  broader  knowledge,  and  more 
culture  than  he  commonly  possesses.  The  enormous  increase  in  the 
number  of  students  pursuing  technical  courses  ensures  very  keen  com- 
petition in  all  branches  of  engineering;  for,  though  the  field  is  widen- 
ing rapidly  and  during  the  recent  period  of  remarkable  prosperity  the 
demand  for  engineers  was  greater  than  the  supply,  the  day  is  not  far 
distant  when  employers  will  be  more  at  liberty  than  they  have  been  to 
select  men  especially  suited  to  their  needs.  Then  the  law  of  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  will  operate  more  truly;  and  education  and  train- 
ing will  count  for  still  more  than  they  do  today.  Then,  even  more 
certainly  than  now,  only  the  ablest  and  best  educated  men  will  sit  in 
high  places  and  ordinary  talent  will  remain  in  the  ranks. 

Now  I  want  to  state  in  the  most  emphatic  terms  at  command  .that, 
no  matter  how  high  the  standard  of  your  school,  when  you  graduate 
your  education  is  only  well  begun,  that  if  you  do  not  continue  your 
studies  with  as  much  or  more  vigor  than  you  have  commonly  employed, 
you  will  have  exceedingly  small  chance  to  win  fame  or  position.  You 
will  be  left  standing  at  the  post,  and  the  races  will  be  won  by  men 
who  know  their  deficiencies  and  who  take  prompt  and  energetic  steps 
to  remove  them.  Your  shortcomings  are  not  limited  to  ignorance  of 
subjects  you  have  not  studied.  As  soon  as  you  are  called  upon  to  apply 
commercially  the  technical  knowledge  acquired  while  in  school,  you 
will  become  painfully  aware  that  both  your  best  efforts  and  those  of 
your  instructors  have  not  given  you  such  command  of  the  facts  and 


74  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

principles  of  engineering  that  you  can  employ  them  with  facility  ami 
assurance.  During  your  course  there  was  not  sufficient  occasion  for 
applying  the  knowledge  you  gained  to  make  its  use  a  habit,  and  since 
completing  the  study  of  many  subjects  there  has  been  time  to  forget 
much  of  them. 

The  great  danger  comes  when  you  leave  your  alma  mater  and 
go  out  to  take  your  place  in  the  world.  The  man  whose  diploma  is 
fresh  is  rarely  given  work  which  demands  the  immediate  use  of  his 
theoretical  knowledge,  even  that  relating  to  one  subject.  The  more 
mechanical  work  of  drafting,  inspection,  or  running  an  instrument  is 
what  he  can  do  best,  and,  consequently,  what  he  will  be  given  to  do; 
and  it  may  be  years  before  his  duties  attain  such  a  breadth  that  the 
entire  range  of  his  technical  knowledge  will  be  called  into  play.  When 
the  demand  does  come  it  will  come  suddenly,  and  often  it  will  be  un- 
recognized. Then  woe  unto  him  who  has  considered  his  technical 
course  all  sufficient,  for  he  will  be  like  the  foolish  virgins  in  the  parable, 
he  will  lack  oil  for  his  lamp  and  there  will  be  no  time  to  get  it.  He 
has  not  only  failed  to  study  and  grow  as  the  years  passed,  but  he  has 
lost  a  large  part  of  the  knowledge  he  spent  four  years  to  gain;  and 
the  prize  is  not  for  him. 

Let  me  illustrate  by  citing  a  few  of  the  many  instances  which 
have  come  under  my  observation.  Though  each  case  will  show  only  a 
single  failure,  it  will  indicate  clearly  the  general  status  of  the  knowl- 
edge possessed  by  the  engineer  in  question.  \  . 

One  man,  after  six  years  in  the  bridge  shops,  could  not  calculate 
the  stresses  in  a  Warren  truss  produced  by  static  loads.  Another,  after 
spending  twelve  years  detailing  and  inspecting  bridges,  could  not  de- 
termine the  stresses  produced  in  a  beam  by  a  locomotive.  Another 
who  had  spent  eight  years  detailing  bridges  and  structural  work  could 
not  find  the  reactions  from  a  simple  cantilever  crane.  Still  another 
of  seven  years'  experience  could  calculate  graphically  with  facility  but 
could  do  nothing  analytically.  One  man  was  found  to  be  unable  to 
make  a  stress  sheet  for  a  parallel-chord,  Pratt-truss  highway  bridge, 
though  he  had  spent  nearly  three  years  in  one  of  the  best  bridge  shops 
in  the  country.  Another  who  had  been  employed  for  two  years  in  the 
office  of  the  bridge  engineer  of  one  of  the  prominent  railroads  could 
not  find  the  position  of  two  wheels  which  would  produce  the  maximum 
moment  in  a  beam.  An  electrical  engineer  of  four  years'  experience, 
when  working  out  some  electric  locomotive  problems,  considered  the 
grade  in  per  cent  to  be  numerically  equal  to  the  degrees  of  angle  be- 
tween the  track  and  the  horizontal.  This  error  ultimately  cost  him  a 
position  which  afforded  a  salary  of  thirty-five  hundred  dollars  a  year. 


HARRINGTON.  75 

An  experienced  mechanical  graduate  was  astonished  to  find  that  the 
speed  with  which  steam  will  travel  through  a  port  is  calculable.  An- 
other found  it  impossible  to  conceive  that  a  steam  turbine  is  operated 
by  the  impulse  instead  of  by  the  pressure  of  steam.  And  I  have 
known  several  experienced  mechanical  men  who  could  not  determine 
what  series  wound  motor  is  required  to  hoist  a  given  load  through  a 
fixed  distance  in  a  certain  time,  because  they  could  not  read  the  per- 
formance curves  of  the  motors. 

Since  you  may  say  these  are  isolated  cases  and,  consequently,  prove 
nothing,  I  shall  cite  one  more  which  is  so  sweepingly  general  that  it 
seems  incredible.  A  prominent  bridge  company  wanted  another  de- 
signing engineer.  They  employed  about  seventy  men,  substantially  all 
technical  graduates,  in  the  detail  drawing  rooms.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  months  the  chief  engineer  tested  every  man  of  promise  among 
them  to  see  if  one  could  not,  in  reasonable  time,  be  trained  to  fill  the 
position ;  but  all  so  lacked  theoretical  knowledge  or  facility  in  its 
use  that  an  engineer  was  obtained  elsewhere  at  twice  the  salary  re- 
ceived by  the  best  paid  man  in  the  drafting  rooms.  Probably  every 
man  of  the  seventy  would  gladly  have  taken  up  the  designing  work 
for  less  salary  than  he  was  then  receiving,  but  not  one  was  prepared 
and  ready. 

I  might  cite  many  more  such  examples,  but  I  think  abundant  have 
been  presented  to  convince  you  that  the  technical  education  must  be 
carried  on  vigorously  and  continuously  after  graduation,  if  positions 
much  higher  than  those  of  skilled  workmen  are  to  be  attained.  With- 
out exception,  the  men  mentioned  in  the  individual  examples  I  have 
just  cited  were  graduates  of  Eastern  engineering  schools  of  the  high- 
est standing.  They  had  every  advantage  which  you  have  now  or 
will  have  when  you  graduate,  unless  you  possess  the  energy  and  fore- 
sight to  acquire  and  to  study  thoroughly  and  persistently  a  library 
of  the  best  books,  periodicals,  and  technical  society  papers  which  re- 
late to  your  specialty  and  its  allied  branches.  If  you  avoid  this  work 
and  try  to  cope  unaided  with  the  many  problems  which  will  confront 
you,  you  must  inevitably  fail  and  occupy  through  life  a  very  subordi- 
nate or  at  best  a  secondary  position. 

Let  us  examine  the  undergraduate  course  carefully  in  order  to 
determine  what  it  accomplishes,  what  are  its  limitations,  and  how  you 
may,  while  still  in  school,  strengthen  yourselves  against  the  day  when 
you  are  turned  out  into  the  world  to  sink  or  swim  professionally;  when 
you  no  longer  have  within  reach  instructors  ready  to  help  you  over  the 
rough  places  and  to  guide  and  direct  you  at  need. 


76  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

The  first  two  years  are  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  the  study 
of  mathematics,  languages,  and  the  natural  sciences,  subjects  which 
afford  culture  and  excellent  mental  training,  and  form  the  basis  for 
the  technical  work,  but  are  in  themselves  not  at  all  technical.  During 
this  period  the  student's  capacity  for  study  and  his  ability  to  grasp  a 
new  subject  are  greatly  improved,  but  only  two  years  are  left  for  the 
technical  work;  and  it  taxes  the  ingenuity  of  the  faculty,  and  some- 
times the  strength  of  the  student,  to  cover  in  that  limited  time  all  of 
the  more  important  fundamental  subjects  relating  to  any  branch  of 
engineering.  Many  closely  allied  subjects  must  be  left  untouched,  and 
there  is  time  for  only  the  elements  of  many  of  those  considered.  It  is 
impossible  in  the  time  available  to  make  a  deep  and  comprehensive 
study  of  any  one  branch  without  neglecting  other  important  subjects. 

President  Woodrow  Wilson  of  Princeton  University  has  recently 
argued  before  a  meeting  of  teachers  that  our  educational  methods  are 
all  wrong,  that  we  teach  too  many  subjects  and  no  subject  thoroughly 
enough.  There  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  the  statement,  for  it  is  better 
to  be  well  versed  in  some  one  line,  so  well  that  the  knowledge  is  con- 
stantly available  for  use,  than  to  know  something  of  many  lines,  but 
so  little  of  any  one  that  the  knowledge  is  not  of  much  service.  It  is 
always  difficult  so  to  draw  the  line  between  deep  preparation  and 
broad  preparation  that  the  greatest  good  will  result.  In  fact  no  general 
rule  will  apply,  but  the  courses  must  be  laid  down  for  the  average  stu- 
dent in  accord  with  the  faculty's  best  judgment.  Some  men  would 
be  benefited  by  more  concentrated  work,  for  they  may  tend  naturally 
to  breadth ;  on  the  other  hand  many  men  would,  if  possible,  select 
easy  work  under  the  guise  of  seeking  breadth,  and  thus  fail  to  obtain 
the  necessary  training. 

Most  students  desire  and  many  engineers  urge  that  more  practice 
be  taught,  and  that  the  relations  between  theory  and  practice  be  made 
clearer;  but  educators  have  wisely  refused  to  comply  with  these  de- 
mands, for  to  do  so  without  increasing  the  time  required  for  the 
course  would  crowd  out  essential  theoretical  studies  which  the  grad- 
uate is  not  likely  to  pursue  unaided.  Students  generally  expect  to  be 
finished,  practical  engineers  when  they  graduate;  and  many  practi- 
tioners think  that  the  schools  should  leave  the  graduates  little  to  learn ; 
but  thoughtful  engineers  realize  that  the  schools  serve  their  highest 
purpose  when  the  whole  course  is  devoted  to  fundamental,  theoretical 
studies  and  only  enough  practice  is  taught  to  illustrate  principles. 
The  training  that  results  in  the  ability  to  grasp  new  ideas  and  in  the 
habit  of  concentrating  the  mind  upon  any  matter  in  interest  is  every- 
thing; the  knowledge  of  a  few  facts  more  or  less  is  nothing.  Every  time 


HARRINGTON.  77 

a  student  leads  his  instructors  to  believe  he  has  mastered  a  point  when 
he  has  not,  he  cheats  himself  not  out  of  so  much  learning  but  out  of 
the  ability  to  learn.  He  has  handicapped  himself  permanently  for  the 
sake  of  an  hour  of  ease,  left  himself  a  little  nearer  the  position  of  the 
untaught  laborer,  and  depreciated  a  little  more  his  chance  for  success. 

As  soon  as  he  begins  his  professional  work,  the  graduate  com- 
monly renounces  all  thought  of  further  study  of  principles  and  devotes 
his  whole  time  to  the  study  of  practice.  Theoretical  studies  are  com- 
monly crowded  out  of  his  field  of  effort,  and  what  he  has  not  learned 
about  them  while  in  school  generally  remains  unknown,  therefore  the 
technical  courses  offered  nowadays  are  right  in  principle,  since  they 
are  composed  chiefly  of  fundamental  subjects. 

Neither  would  it  be  wise  for  the  schools  to  permit  specialization 
much,  if  any,  more  than  they  do  now.  It  is  rare  for  a  student  to  know 
positively  what  branch  of  engineering  he  will  make  his  specialty. 
Civil,  mechanical,  electrical,  mining,  chemical,  and  metallurgical  engi- 
neering, each  has  many  subdivisions  so  important  that  few  can  prac- 
tice successfully  in  more  than  one  or  two  of  them;  and  it  is  difficult 
to  know  in  advance  of  actual  work  for  what  branch  one's  taste  or 
mental  attainments  best  fit  him,  or  in  what  line  opportunities  will  occur ; 
therefore  the  education  should  be  so  broad  that  any  specialty  may  be 
chosen  and  practiced  with  success.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  great 
deviation  from  the  intended  course,  men  educated  as  civil  engineers 
practicing  in  mechanical  lines,  and  mechanical  engineering  graduates 
doing  civil  or  electrical  work.  Even  if  the  specialty  practiced  could 
be  predetermined,  the  advantages  of  special  preparation  for  it,  within 
the  limits  of  the  four-year  course,  would  be  more  than  offset  by  the 
narrowing  effect  of  crowding  out  other  important  subjects;  and  an 
error  in  choosing  a  specialty  would  probably  result  in  mediocrity  or 
failure,  for  great  opportunities  do  not  occur  frequently;  and  if  they 
cannot  be  seized  promptly,  they  are  generally  lost.  Therefore  it  is 
essential  that  your  education  be  both  broad  and  thorough,  if  the  great- 
est success  is  to  be  obtained. 

There  is  frequently  a  tendency  for  students  to  regard  lightly  the 
professional  ability  of  their  instructors,  to  consider  them  theorists  who 
lack  practical  knowledge  and  whose  opinions,  therefore,  must  be  ac- 
cepted with  caution.  Once  in  a  while  there  is  reason  for  such  an 
attitude,  for  the  teaching  branch  of  the  profession  is  as  subject  to 
frailty  as  any  other;  but  as  a  rule,  these  opinions  spring  from  eager- 
ness for  practical  work  and  the  habit  of  regarding  the  theoretical 
studies  as  a  necessary  evil,  a  groundwork,  which  it  will  not  be  essential 
to  recur  to,  once  active  practice  is  begun. 


78  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING    LIBRARIES. 

The  true  value  of  the  scholastic  work  is  not  realized.  It  is  fre- 
quent to  hear  objections  on  the  part  of  the  student  to  this  or  that 
study  because  it  is  not  practical;  because,  so  far  as  he  can  discern,  it 
has  no  bearing  upon  designing  and  constructing  engineering  works, 
which  in  his  opinion  constitute  the  sum  total  of  engineering.  The 
study  of  English  is  especially  subject  to  such  criticism;  just  as  though 
it  were  not  necessary  to  employ  the  language  understandingly  in  the 
preparation  of  specifications,  contracts,  and  advertisements;  in  instruc- 
tions to  other  engineers,  to  contractors,  and  to  foremen;  in  technical 
papers  and  books;  in  business  correspondence,  prospectuses,  estimates, 
reports,  and  other  business  papers,  as  well  as  in  the  social  relations. 
It  is  singular  how  prevalent  is  the  idea  that  this,  the  instrument  most 
commonly  used  of  all,  the  one  upon  the  quality  of  which  all  others 
depend,  should  be  considered  of  little  consequence.  If  you  have  neither 
knowledge  to  gain  nor  thought  to  convey,  the  study  of  English  is  evi- 
dently useless;  but,  in  that  event  so  is  the  study  of  every  other  subject. 

An  engineer,  of  all  men,  requires  such  knowledge  of  the  technique 
of  the  language  that  he  can  use  it  with  accuracy  and  facility  at  all 
times.  The  bad  construction  of  a  sentence,  even  the  erroneous  use  of 
a  word  or  the  misapplication  of  a  comma,  may  result  in  costly  litiga- 
tion and  heavy  loss;  therefore  the  language  merits  far  more  study  than 
the  best  technical  courses  provide.  Even  if  you  have  excellent  habits 
of  speech  and  write  good  English  readily,  you  will  find,  upon  close 
study,  that  habit  cannot  be  depended  upon  for  satisfactory  technical 
English.  Close,  careful  study  of  diction  and  construction  is  essential 
in  any  case.  The  reading  of  well  written  technical  works,  of  the 
English  classics,  and  of  the  best  current  literature  will  aid  greatly  in 
the  acquisition  of  correct  habits;  but  this  is  not  enough.  Make  the 
study  of  the  language  habitual  or  you  will  find,  when  you  have  ad- 
vanced so  far  in  your  profession  that  you  have  engineering  and  legal 
papers  to  prepare,  that  you  blunder  grievously  in  your  use  of  English. 
I  know  an  engineer  of  unusual  technical  ability  who  has  twice  tried 
and  twice  failed  to  establish  himself  in  independent  practice  and  who 
still  occupies  a  secondary  position,  largely,  in  my  opinion,  because  he 
speaks  and  writes  like  an  ignoramus. 

A  knowledge  of  chemistry  is  likewise  universally  essential  to  the 
engineer,  no  matter  what  specialty  he  practice,  for  the  relations  of  the 
constituents  of  the  materials  employed  in  construction  are  always  im- 
portant and  often  vital ;  and  if  they  are  not  understood,  the  materials 
cannot  be  used  intelligently. 

Foreign  languages  are  not  technical  subjects;  but  they  aid  in  keep- 
ing one  thoroughly  informed ;  for  only  the  best  things  to  be  found  in 


HARRINGTON.  79 

them  are  translated  into  English,  and  the  publication  of  the  translation 
is  commonly  far  behind  that  of  the  original. 

Other  subjects  which  do  not  deal  directly  with  design  and  con- 
struction are  required  for  similarly  good  reasons,  which  only  active 
practice  will  make  clear;  therefore  the  student's  objections  to  the 
subjects  he  is  obliged  to  study  are  commonly  illfounded,  and  if  any 
of  them  are  slighted  during  the  course,  in  all  probability  it  will  be 
necessary  to  remedy  the  deficiency  later. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  graduation  the  embryonic  engineer  ob- 
tains a  position  and  enters  upon  his  professional  career.  If  he  has 
a  choice,  he  generally  takes  the  one  which  pays  the  most  money  imme- 
diately, though  the  ultimate  compensation  in  any  branch  of  engineer- 
ing is  inversely  proportional  to  the  salary  paid  the  beginner  in  it.  If 
he  has  a  well  defined  idea  of  what  line  of  work  he  desires  to  follow, 
and  if  he  has  been  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  a  position  in  that  line, 
he  will  probably  employ  all  his  energy  to  learn  everything  practical 
about  his  immediate  1asks  and  whatever  else  comes  directly  under 
his  observation.  Often  the  work  of  more  experienced  men  is  studied 
zealously  to  the  neglect  of  his  own.  He  will,  if  he  be  energetic,  drive 
with  all  his  strength  at  the  practical  work  and  begin  to  calculate 
upon  how  soon  his  salary  should  be  increased.  If  he  is  in  the  field, 
he  sees  skilled  workmen  paid  much  more  than  he  is;  and,  because  he 
knows  the  workmen  have  not  his  education  and  could  not  do  his  work, 
he  exaggerates  the  value  of  his  services  and  often  begins  to  have  a 
grievance.  He  does  not  realize  that  he  knows  very  little  about  his 
broad  line  of  work,  while  the  skilled  mechanic  is  well  trained  in  his 
narrower  line  and,  consequently,  is  better  able  to  produce  saleable 
results. 

Almost  every  young  engineer  is  inclined  to  minimize  the  amount 
he  has  to  learn  and  to  seek  to  reach  the  top  in  a  few  short  leaps.  I 
remember  one  very  bright  young  man  who  entered  the  detail  drawing 
room  of  a  bridge  company  immediately  after  graduation.  Within  a 
month  he  applied  for  transfer  to  the  designing  rooms,  because,  as  he 
stated,  he  had  learned  all  there  was  to  be  learned  about  detailing.  He 
was  transferred;  and  for  some  months,  under  the  impression  that  he 
was  estimating,  he  contentedly  calculated  the  weight  of  steel  on  lists 
furnished  him  by  the  designers.  He  learned  so  fast,  in  his  own  opinion, 
that  it  is  not  surprising  that  in  eight  years  he  has  attained  a  very 
mediocre  position.  Every  man  who,  when  he  graduates,  thinks  he 
knows  all  but  a  little  of  the  practical  work,  which  he  can  learn  in 
a  few  months,  will  make  similar  progress  unless  some  shock  opens  his 
eyes  to  the  truth. 


80  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

Though  this  extremely  comfortable  idea  of  the  graduate's  equip- 
ment is  not  very  general,  the  estimate  the  young  man  usually  places 
upon  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  is  almost  universally  far  too  high. 
It  is  common  to  assume  that  the  education  is  finished,  that  the  text 
books  are  properly  put  away  like  other  childish  things,  and  that  it 
is  only  necessary  to  go  forth,  learn  practice,  and  conquer.  And  since 
that  course  requires  the  least  possible  amount  of  energy,  it  is  very 
frequently  followed  for  years;  so  long  that  when  the  need  for  further 
study  is  finally  realized,  the  mathematics  and  the  elements  of  the 
theoretical  work  obtained  in  school  are  forgotten,  and  the  task  of 
reviewing  them  and  acquiring  further  knowledge  of  them  is  so  great 
that  it  appalls  and  discourages,  and  the  man  remains  for  the  balance 
of  his  life  a  draftsman,  an  instrument  man,  or  a  secondary  man  of  some 
other  sort.  He  will  attribute  his  own  failure  to  the  malice  of  enemies 
or  the  lack  of  powerful  friends,  and  the  success  of  his  acquaintances 
to  influence  or  luck.  He  will  rarely  admit,  even  to  himself,  that  he 
failed  because  he  deserved  to  fail,  because  he  was  unwilling  to  work  for 
success.  Is  the  picture  distasteful?  I  hope  so.  But  do  not  get  the 
idea  that  it  is  exaggerated.  I  can  call  the  names  of  many  men  whose 
advancement  has  been  imperceptibly  slow  because  they  proceeded 
along  such  lines,  and  every  engineer  has  watched  the  course  of  many 
who  have  been  left  behind  because  they  would  do  only  the  work 
given  them  to  do  and  would  set  and  perform  no  tasks  for  themselves. 
And  I  have  known  many  others  who  have  gone  forward  rapidly  because 
they  think,  read,  and  study  continuously. 

There  are,  of  course,  differences  in  the  amounts  and  kinds  of 
ability  with  which  nature  has  endowed  men,  and  it  is  very  easy  to 
attribute  your  own  failure  or  another  man's  success  to  these  qualities 
over  which  the  individual  has  no  control,  but  I  firmly  -believe  that  by 
far  the  larger  influence  is  common  industry,  or  the  lack  of  it.  And 
I  assure  you  it  requires  much  more  energy  to  think  out  a  course  of 
study  and  pursue  it  than  it  does  to  perform  your  daily  task  well. 
Energy  is  necessary  to  perform  manual  labor  or  routine  mental  labor, 
but  infinitely  more  is  required  to  do  original  work  or  to  pursue  a 
course  which  is  not  obligatory  and  which  will  result  in  no  immediate 
benefit.  It  is  the  custom  of  mankind  to  forfeit  large  but  long  deferred 
benefits  for  the  sake  of  small  immediate  ones. 

When  a  young  man  takes  up  his  first  work,  he  gives  his  best 
thought,  as  he  should,  to  learning  to  perform  the  tasks  which  will 
provide  his  living;  and  if  he  has  not  already  a  bit  of  a  library  and  the 
habit  of  using  it  and  increasing  it,  that  is  about  all  he  will  do  except 
to  satisfy  his  desire  for  recreation  and  for  social  pleasures.  He  has 


HARRINGTON.  81 

little  immediate  use  for  his  books  and  he  forgets  them  and  their  con- 
tents. His  duties  do  not  require  knowledge  of  law  or  organization  or 
management  or  business  or  finance.  These  are  not,  he  concludes, 
engineering  subjects,  and,  consequently,  can  be  of  no  interest  to  him; 
therefore,  he  gives  them  little  or  no  thought.  In  the  course  of  two 
or  three  years,  if  he  has  been  industrious  and  thoughtful  in  his  daily 
work,  he  will  be  given  tasks  which  make  greater  demands  upon  his 
technical  knowledge.  Then  he  must  go  back  to  his  text  books  and 
review  them  before  he  can  with  assurance  do  the  work  properly.  This 
takes  time,  for  he  has  forgotten  much,  and,  in  order  to  escape  criticism 
for  lack  of  facility,  he  will  probably  try  short  cuts  or  guess  work  and 
fail.  This  is  the  usual  course,  because  men  employed  by  large  corpora- 
tions generally  acquire  such  extreme  respect  for  the  organization  and 
for  the  opinions  of  their  official  superiors  that  they  will  adopt  almost 
any  means  to  avoid  severe  criticism.  In  the  bridge  shops,  for  instance, 
there  is  commonly  a  very  un-American  fear  of  "The  Boss,"  which 
arises  partly  from  the  superior  knowledge  and  position  of  the  official 
and  partly  from  the  possibility  of  criticism  for  ignorance  or,  more 
commonly,  for  lack  of  industry  and  attention  to  business.  It  is  de- 
plorable but  undeniable  that  technically  educated  men  have  to  be 
watched  and  urged,  much  as  the  lower  orders  of  workmen  do.  But 
haste  due  to  fear  of  criticism  and  the  laziness  which  prevents  study 
frequently  cause  grievous  blunders.  False  pride  which  prevents  con- 
fession of  ignorance  is  also  a  fruitful  source  of  error.  It  takes  courage 
and  honesty  to  say,  "I  do  not  know,"  but  courage  and  honesty  are 
among  the  essential  characteristics  of  a  successful  engineer. 

I  have  said  before  that  the  engineering  graduate  is  rarely  called 
upon  in  the  earlier  stages  of  his  professional  work  to  use  much  of 
his  technical  information ;  and  that,  in  consequence,  he  'forgets  ft. 
This  is  especially  true  of  those  who  take  up  field  work.  Their  knowl- 
edge of  instrument  work  is  brought  into  immediate  service,  but  in  a 
very  short  time  mechanics,  the  basis  of  all  designing,  will  have  become 
but  a  name.  One  of  my  acquaintances,  who  has  spent  in  the  field  the 
most  of  his  twelve  years  since  graduation,  recently  told  me  that  he 
was  re-reading  his  mechanics  and  was  astonished  to  find  how  little 
he  knew  of  what  was  once  thoroughly  familiar  to  him.  Undoubtedly 
he  has  learned  much  in  field  work,  but  he  has  actually  lost  ground  in 
some  lines  and  grown  narrow.  That  is  the  usual  course  and  the  one 
certain  to  result  in  the  man  becoming  a  cog  in  the  wheel  and  a  little 
one  at  that.  Many  a  technical  man  calls  himself  a  bridge  engineer 
and  looks  upon  himself  as  a  specialist  who  is  cheated  out  of  his  dues ; 
yet  is  versed  in  only  one  narrow  branch  of  bridge  work,  such  as  shop 
drafting,  inspection,  or  estimating.  He  probably  knows  little  or 


82  INDIVIDUAL    ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

nothing  of  shop  work  or  erection  or  management  or  business  or  the 
higher  technique  of  designing;  yet  he  would  bristle  with  indignation 
if  you  were  to  tell  him  he  is  narrow  and  that  he  does  not  know  his 
business.  He  has  steadily  followed  a  single  phase  of  a  single  branch 
of  a  single  division  of  engineering,  because  up  to  a  certain  point  he 
could  increase  his  salary  most  rapidly  by  so  doing.  He  became  pro- 
ficient in  his  narrow  line  of  work,  and  he  refused  to  take  up  other 
lines  because  he  knew  less  about  them  and  could  earn  less  in  them. 
And  so  he  reached  a  certain  position  and  remained  there  because  his 
foundation  was  too  narrow. 

It  is  urgently  necessary  that  the  recent  engineering  graduate 
shall  at  once  take  steps  to  master  thoroughly  every  phase  of  the 
specialty  he  means  to  follow,  including  many  allied  technical  branches, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  broaden  his  view  by  studying  other  and 
more  remote  lines.  There  is  so  much  to  read  and  study,  so  many  lines 
to  pursue,  that,  unless  he  have  the  wisdom  and  foresight  to  work 
according  to  some  plan,  confusion  and  weakness  will  result.  Know- 
ledge is  of  value  only  as  it  is  of  use,  and  if  it  lack  cohesion,  is  not 
gathered  and  arranged  in  the  mind  according  to  some  system,  it  is 
almost  useless.  Many  a  man  reminds  me  of  my  first  shot  gun.  It 
made  a  big  noise  and  kicked  vigorously ;  whenever  it  went  off  you 
felt  sure  the  game  must  come  down ;  but  it  scattered  so  badly  that 
it  was  rather  more  apt  to  miss  than  to  hit.  The  shot  would  strike 
all  around  the  bird,  which  would  often  get  off  unhurt.  Thus  many 
a  man  shoots  all  around  the  mark  but  cannot  concentrate  his  fire  so 
it  will  tell. 

Notwithstanding  the  necessary  limitations  of  the  technical  course, 
if  the  student  will  do  his  part,  he  will,  when  he  graduates,  have  the 
best  equipment  obtainable  in  the  time  employed.  But  he  who  per- 
forms his  daily  task  and  passes  his  examinations  so  well  that  he  gets 
fair  grades  and  in  the  end  receives  his  degree,  has  not  necessarily  done 
his  part.  Good  consistent  work  is  much,  but  it  is  not  all;  in  fact,  it  is 
only  what  the  university  demands  in  set  terms.  It  obtains  the  credits 
and  the  degree,  just  as  the  ordinary  laborer  earns  his  daily  wage ; 
and  it  is  little  more  likely  to  make  the  student  an  eminent  engineer 
than  the  daily  wage  is  likely  to  make  the  laborer  a  millionaire.  Initia- 
tive and  untiring  energy  to  plan  and  carry  out  work  which  is  not  com- 
pulsory are  even  more  essential  and  effective  during  the  college  course 
than  they  are  at  the  height  of  the  professional  career.  It  is  true  that 
one  who  is  only  an  ordinary  student  may  awaken  when  he  takes  up 
his  professional  work  and  set  for  himself  a  pace  which  will  enable 
him  to  reach  the  top;  but  as  a  rule  he  will  never  realize  that  he  is 
not  doing  his  best.  He  won  his  degree  without  great  effort;  and  in 


HARRINGTON,  83 

his  opinion,  it  necessarily  follows  that  success  must  come  naturally 
and  easily.  After  a  while  when  it  is  too  late,  he  finds  it  does  not;  then 
some  one  else  or  his  luck  is  to  blame,  never  himself.  As  a  rule,  it  is 
easier  to  reform  a  drunkard  than  a  drone  or  an  indifferent  man. 

The  graduate  should  understand  that  in  spite  of  splendid  equip- 
ment, able  instructors,  and  rigorous  discipline,  the  technical  school 
does  not  turn  him  out  a  finished  engineer,  but  leaves  him  to  acquire 
the  major  part  of  the  necessary  technical  knowledge  after  he  has  gone 
out  into  the  world.  It  has  given  him  methods  of  study,  trained  him 
to  grasp  readily  the  arguments  of  able  writers,  taught  him  the  mathe- 
matics he  needs,  some  foreign  languages  and  something  of  his  own, 
and  the  elements  of  some  natural  sciences,  and  it  has  made  a  begin- 
ning upon  his  technical  education ;  but  if  he  stops  there,  failure  is 
certainly  his  portion.  The  school  has  accomplished  its  purpose,  train- 
ed him  mentally,  but  he  must  yet  broaden  and  deepen  his  knowledge 
of  theory,  as  well  as  learn  the  practical  phases  of  his  professional  work. 
He  must  work  alone.  With  rare  exception  his  employers  have  neither 
the  time  nor  the  inclination  to  interest  themselves  in  any  portion  of  his 
life  except  that  for  which  they  pay.  Occasionally  he  may  be  urged  to 
exert  himself  to  learn  more  about  the  work  he  is  employed  to  do,  but 
he  must,  of  his  own  volition,  plan  and  carry  out  the  study  which  is 
essential  to  success. 

The  recent  engineering  graduate  is  not  fitted  to  do  much  com- 
mercial work,  and  employers  are  loath  to  spend  the  time  and  patience 
necessary  to  direct  him  and  to  correct  his  errors.  No  one  really 
wants  to  employ  him,  but  he  will  be  given  place  and  work  in  the 
hope  that  ultimately  he  will  become  proficient  and  then  repay  in 
profitable  service  the  time  and  effort  spent  upon  him  in  the  beginning. 
If  he  be  energetic,  he  will  be  encouraged  to  learn  the  things  which 
will  make  his  services  more  valuable  immediately,  the  practical  phases 
of  his  work.  But  what  about  the  things  which  count  so  much  toward 
his  ultimate  success,  yet  have  no  bearing  upon  the  work  in  hand? 
Will  they  be  pointed  out  to  him?  Will  he  be  urged  to  study  more  deep- 
ly the  courses  he  pursued  while  in  school  and  to  take  up  the  study  of 
the  collateral  subjects  which  have  a  bearing  upon  the  work  he  will 
be  called  upon  to  do  five  or  ten  years  hence?  Yes,  in  about  one  case 
in  a  hundred.  Surely  not  much  more  frequently.  He  will  generally 
be  left  to  his  own  devices  except  in  so  far  as  he  can  be  made  more 
useful  now  or  in  the  very  near  future.  In  many  large  establishments 
even  that  much  pressure  is  not  brought  to  bear,  but  he  is  left  to 
succeed  or  fail  as  he  will.  If  he  earn  his  salary  and  if  work  should 
be  plentiful,  he  will  be  retained;  but  much  personal  effort  to  aid  the 
novice  is  considered  an  immediate  loss,  for  the  average  man  will  move 


84  INDIVIDUAL    ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

on  and  deliver  to  another  employer  the  benefit  of  such  instruction  as 
soon  as  he  can  obtain  more  money  by  doing  so.  Some  of  our  larger 
manufacturers,  it  is  true,  seek  recent  graduates,  bind  them  to  a  specific 
term  of  service,  and  maintain  a  course  of  instruction  for  them.  In 
these  cases  the  better  men  are  selected  for  advancement  in  the  com- 
pany's service  while  the  less  competent  or  less  energetic  are  retained 
as  a  sort  of  higher  grade  mechanic.  I  know  one  man  who  has  been 
making  shop  drawings  of  plate  girders  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
for  a  mechanic's  pay. 

Even  when  employers  or  officers  of  corporations  take  a  personal 
interest  in  the  recent  graduate  and  endeavor  to  advise  him,  they  fre- 
quently find  the  effort  wasted,  if  not  offensive.  Too  many  young  men 
resent  the  advice  to  continue  study  as  a  reflection  upon  their  intelli- 
gence and  their  equipment  of  learning.  Sometimes  egotism  carries 
them  so  far  that  they  think  the  older  man  is  jealous  of  their  superior 
knowledge;  and  the  lofty  manner  in  which  they  sometimes  criticise 
the  work  of  older  men  is  often  decidedly  amusing.  I  well  remem- 
ber the  uncomplimentary  remarks  two  young  graduates  made  about 
an  eminent  mechanical  engineer  and  his  design  of  a  clam-shell  bucket, 
though  they  did  not  understand  even  the  operation  of  the  machine. 

Compare  these  conditions  with  those  which  obtain  before  gradua- 
tion. The  faculty  not  only  urge  the  student  to  employ  his  best  efforts 
and  suggest  better  methods  of  study,  but  substantially  compel  him  to 
acquire  definite  amounts  of  valuable  information  in  a  given  time.  He 
is  not  obliged  to  take  the  initiative.  The  courses  are  mapped  out  for 
him  in  detail ;  even  the  daily  task  is  set ;  and  if  the  ability  or  the  energy 
to  grasp  any  portion  of  the  subject  be  lacking,  the  instructor  not  only 
stands  ready  and  willing  to  aid  when  called  upon,  but  seeks  the  oppor- 
tunity to  help.  The  student  has  constantly  in  view  definite  results  to 
be  attained  in  given  periods ;  such  as  the  completion,  first,  of  the  sub- 
jects immediately  in  hand  and,  finally,  of  the  whole  course,  the  receipt 
of  a  degree,  and  the  entering  upon  a  career  which  hope  and  imagina- 
tion make  brilliant.  Every  aid  and  incentive  to  study  are  offered. 
Pride  in  his  own  strength  and  in  his  ability  to  achieve,  and  the  hope 
and  encouragement  of  his  family,  his  friends,  and  his  instructors,  urge 
him  forward.  The  way  is  made  easy,  bright,  and  pleasant.  He  has 
only  to  follow  the  course  laid  down  and  honor  and  success  are  his. 

Thus  the  student  is  aided  and  advised  at  every  step,  while  the 
graduate  must  map  out  his  own  course  and  pursue  it  with  energy  and 
steady  purpose,  if  he  is  to  win.  The  transition  is  abrupt,  the  test 
severe ;  and  it  is  little  wonder  that  so  many  fail ;  but  the  remedy  lies 
altogether  with  the  student.  He  must  take  the  initiative  and  so  lay 
his  plans  and  conduct  his  work  that  when  he  graduates  there  will  be 


HARRINGTON.  .  .f    .  85 

only  a  modification,  not  an  interruption,  in  his  course  of  study.  He 
must  prepare  himself  against  the  day  of  trial  which  is  certainly  com- 
ing, and  take  steps  to  supplement  the  university  work. 

Many  ,'of  you,  no  doubt,  consider  yourselves  hard  worked  to 
satisfy  the  faculty's  requirements ;  but,  except  in  the  rare  case  when 
lack  of  health  and  strength  interferes,  you  will  find  that  a  reasonable 
amount  of  collateral  work  is  not  only  pleasant  and  profitable,  but 
that  it  actually  lightens  the  required  work  by  affording  a  broader  and 
clearer  comprehension  of  it.  And  you  have  time  for  it.  If  you  ever 
reach  a  high  executive  position,  you  will  find  that  instead  of  taking 
your  pleasure  and  recreation  very  much  at  will,  as  you  do  now,  you 
will  make  them  a  part  of  a  schedule  which  accounts  for  almost  every 
minute  of  your  time.  You  will  often  excuse  yourself,  instead  of  ceas- 
ing work,  when  a  friend  drops  in  for  a  social  chat;  and  you  will 
forego  many  a  ball  or  dinner  or  theater  party  or  other  pleasure  for 
the  sake  of  your  work  or  study.  In  time  you  will  come  to  smile  with 
amusement  when  you  recall  how  you  thought  you  were  busy  when  in 
school.  The  student  is  father  of  the  practitioner,  and  I  know  that 
very  few  young  engineers  understand  how  to  concentrate  their  thought 
upon  what  they  are  doing  so  that  only  imperative  matters  will  in- 
terrupt them.  And  still  fewer  take  such  a  comprehensive  view  of  their 
work  that  the  little,  less  important  features  of  a  task  are  not  for- 
gotten or  neglected.  Therefore,  I  fear  that  the  student  who  thinks  he 
is  hard  worked  has  much  to  learn  about  methods  of  study. 

Primarily,  you  must  do  the  prescribed  work  with  all  your  energy 
and  ability,  set  your  own  pace  in  it  rather  than  be  driven  or  coaxed 
along,  and  bring  yourself  to  understand  that  the  training  you  are  re- 
ceiving and  the  habits  you  are  acquiring  now  are  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance to  you  throughout  your  professional  career.  If  it  be  pos- 
sible to  do  more  work  than  has  been  prescribed  (and  almost  every 
earnest,  energetic  student  will  find  it  so)  choose  the  work  which  you 
prefer  or  think  most  beneficial,  seek  your  instructors'  advice  regarding 
it,  and  then  do  all  of  it  you  can  without  detriment  to  the  prescribed 
courses.  Purchase  other  books  which  cover  the  same  ground  as  the 
text-books  employed.  They  will  often  present  the  matter  in  different 
lights  and  actually  reduce  the  amount  of.  work  required  to  grasp  the 
subject.  I  recall  that  an  old  work  on  analytical  geometry,  which  treats 
the  problems  graphically,  greatly  aided  me  to  understand  the  alge- 
braic treatment  of  the  prescribed  text  book;  and  Prof.  Merriman's. 
books  on  bridges  frequently  made  Johnson's  clearer.  Every  book  con- 
tains important  matter  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  other  works  that 
treat  the  same  subject.  Often  different  methods  are  presented ;  and  at 
tne  least,  the  second  reading  serves  by  repetition  to  fix  the  matter 


86  INDIVIDUAL    ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

more  firmly  in  the  mind.  The  difference  between  like  works  in  matter 
and  method  of  presentation  strengthen  by  bringing  the  judgment  into 
play  and  training  it,  and  by  developing  the  student's  habit  of  independ- 
ent thought. 

Again,  to  read  in  the  technical  journals  and  the  proceedings  of 
the  engineering  societies  descriptions  of  such  works  as  those  of  which 
the  text-book  or  lectures  treat,  greatly  aids  in  understanding  the  sub- 
ject and  in  fixing  it  in  the  mind,  and,  at  the  same  time,  affords  a 
glimpse  of  the  connection  between  theory  and  practice.  The  reading 
of  technical  papers  also  teaches  you  where  to  find  data  and  how  to 
present  them,  and  acquaints  you  with  what  is  going  on  in  the  world. 
There  is  something  new  in  every  issue,  something  to  'excite  your 
curiosity  and  stimulate  your  mind. 

If  the  time  and  energy  be  available,  it  is  very  advantageous  to 
purchase  and  read  books  relating  to  allied  subjects  which  the  pre- 
scribed course  does  not  include.  For  instance,  a  thorough  course  in 
dynamo-electric  machinery  or  in  thermodynamics  or  in  the  metallurgy 
of  iron  and  steel  may  be  of  great  service  to  a  civil  engineer;  and  a 
course  in  architectural  engineering,  in  mill  building  construction,  or 
in  masonry  design  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  a  mechanical  en- 
gineer. I  recall  a  large  rail  mill  roof  designed  by  an  able  mechanical 
engineer,  which  had  only  itself  and  the  wind  and  snow  to  carry,  yet 
was  strong  enough  to  support  a  railway  train  as  well.  And  .a  civil 
engineer's  work  in  mechanical  lines  is  often  painfully  crude.  Yet  the 
various  branches  of  engineering  frequently  overlap;  and  any  engineer 
should  be  prepared  to  do  reasonably  well  work  in  other  lines  which 
are  closely  allied  to  his  specialty.  If  the  fundamental  knowledge  of 
these  allied  subjects  can  be  obtained  in  course  without  interference 
with  the  regular  work,  so  much  the  better,  but  sooner  or  later  it  must 
be  obtained. 

Yet  the  great  value  of  the  purchase  and  perusal  of  the  technical 
periodicals  and  other  than  the  required  text  books  lies  in  beginning 
a  library  and  in  establishing  habits  of  independent  thought  and 
study  while  still  in  position  to  obtain  friendly  aid  and  advice  from 
the  faculty.  The  files  of  the  technical  periodicals  form  a  very  import- 
ant part  of  every  engineer's  library.  Even  the  six  or  eight  volumes 
of  any  good  engineering  paper  which  the  student  should  accumulate 
afford  many  descriptions  and  illustrations  of  engineering  works  and 
of  the  methods  of  designing  and  constructing  them.  But  the  back 
numbers  are  difficult  to  obtain ;  and  if  the  graduate  does  not  have 
them,  he  is  not  likely  to  buy  them,  and,  consequently,  will  miss  their 
aid  in  solving  his  first  practical  problems.  Without  them  his  knowl- 


HARRINGTON.  87 

edge  of  what  has  been  done  in  the  engineering  world  will  not  extend 
much  back  of  the  day  he  began  work  in  his  first  position. 

It  is  true  that  there  are  one  or  two  copies  of  each  of  the  best 
technical  journals  in  the  school's  library  and  that  they  can  be  read, 
even  though'  they  are  not  purchased.  But  they  will  not  be  read.  How 
many  of  you  read  thoroughly  even  a  part  of  one  journal?  How  many 
read  none  at  all?  And  if  you  should  read  them,  that  would  not  serve 
the  purpose,  for  they  and  the  technical  society  transactions  consti- 
tute a  large  share  of  every  engineer's  library,  and  you  should  have 
them  for  reference. 

After  graduation  many  a  young  engineer  would  take  up  the  study 
of  subjects  which  bear  upon  his  work  but  which  he  did  not  study  in 
school,  if  he  knew  what  books  to  buy.  But,  as  a  student,  he  has  not 
learned  to  select  books,  for  the  text  books  have  always  been  specified, 
and  he  knows  little  or  nothing  about  the  respective  merits  of  others. 
And  rather  than  waste  his  money  on  ill  selections,  he  commonly  makes 
the  greatest  of  all  errors  by  purchasing  none  at  all. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  ultimate  value  of  a  dozen  books  and 
a  single  engineering  paper  purchased  and  read  during  the  course  of 
study.  The  technical  knowledge  is  increased,  the  habit  of  independent 
thought  and  methods  of  independent  study  are  established,  additional 
books  are  made  familiar  and  available  for  reference,  and  the  nucleus 
of  a  library  is  formed.  The  graduate  has  already  begun  his  pro- 
fessional work;  the  transition  from  school  to  the  office,  shop,  or  field  is 
made  without  danger  that  he  will  consider  his  education  completed 
and  that  he  will,  in  consequence,  cease  to  study  and  grow.  The  size 
of  this  beginning  of  a  library  is  of  infinitely  less  importance  than  the 
habits  formed  in  collecting  it.  The  little  group  of  books,  if  he  carry 
them  with  him,  will  constantly  strengthen  and  support  him  in  his 
work  and  keep  ever  present  in  his  mind  the  need  for  more  books  and 
further  study. 

Many  a  student,  instead  of  taking  pride  in  the  growing  row  of 
books  on  his  shelf,  sells  even  his  text  books  as  soon  as  he  has  received 
his  credits  in  the  subjects  of  which  they  treat.  He  burns  his  bridges 
behind  him  and  makes  certain  that  whatever  he  has  not  learned  from 
his  books  will  remain  unknown,  whatever  was  not  clear  will  remain 
obscure,  whatever  he  forgets  will  remain  forgotten.  When,  in  his 
later  work,  either  before  or  after  graduation,  his  memory  needs  re- 
freshing or  a  point  puzzles  him,  he  cannot  turn  to  the  familiar  pages 
and  satisfy  his  needs.  Instead,  in  fear  and  trembling  he  puts  on  a 
bold  face  and  endeavors  to  convince  his  instructors  or  employers  that 
he  knows  what  he  does  not  know.  If  he  succeed,  he  has  cheated  both 
himself  and  them  and  has  acquired  a  dishonest  habit.  If  he  fail,  and 


88  ,     INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

he  generally  does,  though  he  may  not  know  it,  he  not  only  acquires 
the  dishonest  habit  and  cheats  himself,  but  he  fails  in  his  work  and 
falls  behind  in  the  race.  No  other  books  will  ever  supply  the  desired 
information  so  readily  as  those  he  pored  over  in  school.  Even  if  the 
student  has  not  the  means  or  the  foresight  to  begin  his  professional 
library  t>y  purchasing  additional  books,  the  required  text  books,  if 
retained,  form  a  valuable  working  nucleus.  When  the  course  is  com- 
pleted the  days  of  a  text  book's  usefulness  instead  of  being  over  are 
only  begun ;  and  the  man  who  sells  his  as  soon  as  he  can  is  already 
on  the  high  road  to  failure. 

It  is  frequently  stated,  sometimes  by  instructors,  that  the  average 
student  cannot  afford  to  buy  more  books  than  are  absolutely  essential 
to  the  pursuit  of  the  prescribed  studies;  but  such  a  view  is  exceedingly 
narrow.  Expenses  vary  greatly  with  the  situation  of  the  institution, 
the  tuition  charged,  and  the  student's  tastes,  habits,  and  supply  of 
funds ;  but  four  hundred  dollars  a  year  is  probably  a  low  estimate  of 
the  average  annual  expenditure,  even  in  our  state  universities  where 
the  tuition  is  little  or  nothing.  An  increase  of  five  per  cent,  or  about 
twenty  dollars  per  annum,  spent  for  a  good  technical  journal  and  for 
well  selected  engineering  books  will  place  within  the  student's  reach 
the  means  for  doubling  his  fund  of  technical  knowledge.  And  what 
can  be  said  of  the  economy  of  spending  a  dollar  for  half  a  loaf  when 
a  dollar  and  five  cents  would  buy  a  whole  one!  I  feel  sure  that  the 
cases  are  few  in  which  the  lack  is  not  the  money  to  buy  books  but 
the  intelligence  to  appreciate  their  value  and  the  energy  to  master 
their  contents. 

Consult  your  instructors  regarding  the  best  books  in  each  line 
and  make  memoranda  of  their  recommendations.  Likewise  consult 
instructors  in  other  lines  of  which  you  would  like  a  knowledge  and 
make  lists  of  the  books  they  advise  and  the  order  in  which  such  books 
should  be  studied.  Get  the  catalogues  of  the  principal  publishers ; 
they  may  be  had  for  the  asking;  and  see  for  yourselves  what  is  avail- 
able. Study  well  the  reviews  of  new  books  as  they  appear  in  the 
technical  papers.  Then  buy  as  many  as  you  can  find  time  to  master 
without  neglecting  your  regular  studies.  If  it  be  only  one  each  term, 
that  is  much ;  if  two,  that  is  much  more.  And  remember  that  the 
mere  possession  of  the  book  does  not  serve  the  purpose.  It  is  like 
your  mind,  valuable  directly  in  proportion  to  the  use  you  make  of  it. 
There  is  no  known  method  by  which  a  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  a 
book  may  be  acquired  without  reading  and  study,  though  the  contrary 
idea  seems  to  be  prevalent.  Mere  possession  or  laying  on  of  hands 
will  not  suffice. 


HARRINGTON.  89 

I  hear  many  of  you  say  you  have  no  time  for  extra  work,  that 
your  instructors  demand  it  all  and  more.  But  how  many  of  you  do 
not  absolutely  waste  a  half  hour  a  day?  I  do  not  mean  how  many 
withhold  that  much  time  from  your  studies  and  devote  it  to  social 
duties  or  pleasures,  to  recreation,  or  to  exercise,  all  of  which  are  es- 
sential to  right  living;  but  absolutely  waste  it,  doing  nothing  which 
affords  either  pleasure  or  profit.  Yet  a  half  hour  a  day  devoted  to 
books  will  enable  you  to  read  several  ordinary  volumes  each  term. 
And  the  value  of  so  much  work,  in  the  knowledge  obtained  and  the 
habits  and  training  acquired,  is  almost  incalculable.  You  have  so 
much  to  read,  there  are  so  many  subjects  just  touched  upon  or  not 
included  at  all  in  your  course,  that  the  earlier  you  begin  your  inde- 
pendent work  the  better.  If  you  wait  till  you  have  nothing  else  to  do, 
you  will  never  begin.  You  must  make  room  for  such  work.  You  will 
find  that  doing  only  a  little  regularly  will  strengthen  you  and  will 
rapidly  increase  your  capacity  for  work,  and  you  will  be  astonished 
to  see  how  much  a  half  hour  a  day  well  employed  will  accomplish. 

The  majority  of  engineering  students  have  not  found  it  possible 
to  pursue  wholly  or  in  part  an  academic  course,  hence  it  is  very  im- 
portant that  they  read  as  much  as  possible  in  non-technical  lines.  And 
much  valuable  knowledge  and  training  in  the  humanities,  in  the  lan- 
guages, and  in  sociology  and  political  economy  and  finance  may  be 
gained  while  reading  for  recreation. 

In  your  reading  while  in  school  do  not  reach  out  too  eagerly  after 
the  practical  phases  of  your  subjects.  Remember  that  the  theory  is 
the  more  difficult  part  to  obtain  unaided  and  that  after  graduation  you 
will  be  obliged  to  make  special  effort  to  gain  further  knowledge  of  it, 
while  you  will  necessarily  learn  much  of  practice  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  your  work.  Seek  to  establish  the  principles  which  form  the 
basis  of  your  future  tasks  as  thoroughly  as  possible  in  your  mind  and 
to  acquire  all  the  knowledge  of  them  your  time  and  strength  will  per- 
mit. Build  your  foundations  substantially,  and  the  superstructure 
will  be  much  more  certain  to  serve  its  purpose. 

The  discussion  of  technical  problems  in  the  undergraduate  en- 
gineering societies  is  a  very  effective  means  of  developing  sound  meth- 
ods, for  it  enforces  precise  and  comprehensive  thinking  and  neces- 
sitates the  reading  of  the  technical  papers  and  other  books  than  those 
required  for  class  use.  No  one  wishes  to  advance  theories  or  make 
statements  which  are  not  supported  by  facts  or  sound  logic,  therefore 
earnest  thought  commonly  precedes  discussion  or  argument. 

Immediately  after  graduation  review  thoroughly  all  your  text 
books  that  bear  upon  your  work.  Then  map  out  a  course  of  technical 
study,  select  and  purchase  the  books  needed  for  it,  and,  if  possible, 


90  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

devote  to  it  a  certain  amount  of  time  each  day.  You  will  be  astonished 
to  find  that  with  an  hour  a  day  well  applied  you  will  cover  more 
ground  than  you  did  with  all  your  time  while  in  school,  for  you 
acquire  better  methods  of  study  and  greater  mental  grasp  with  the 
passage  of  years. 

At  the  same  time,  subscribe  for  at  least  one  good  engineering 
weekly  and  read  it  thoroughly.  For  a  few  years  the  whole  of  it  should 
retain  your  interest,  because  you  are  still  more  or  less  in  search  of  your 
place  in  the  world,  and  therefore  you  should  be  familiar  with  many 
lines  of  work.  A  monthly,  too,  which  offers  a  more  general  view  of 
the  entire  field  of  engineering  is  worth  your  while,  for  it  tends  to 
broaden  and  to  attract  attention  to  lines  which  may  have  permanent 
interest.  ,  Such  magazines  frequently  contain  valuable  matter  relating 
to  shop  management  and  accounting  that  is  hard  to  find  elsewhere. 
In  course  of  time  it  is  well  to  increase  the  number  of  technical  papers 
and  to  restrict  the  reading  more  closely  to  the  subjects  of  your  special 
interest,  but  too  early  specialization  is  narrowing  and  harmful. 

As  soon  as  you  have  read  the  principal  books  relating  to  your 
particular  subjects,  take  up  other  and  more  remotely  related  lines,  but 
always  follow  a  plan;  for  variety  without  it  will  lead  to  weakness. 
At  the  same  time  the  plan  should  be  subject  to  whatever  alterations 
more  mature"  judgment  dictates.  Avoid  reading  whatever  comes  to 
hand.  No  knowledge  is  worthless ;  but  a  small  fund  of  well  ordered 
information  is  much  more  serviceable  than  a  larger  amount  of  hap- 
hazard, ill-rounded,  unrelated  knowledge.  It  is  difficult,  but  essential 
to  the  highest  success,  to  be  both  broad  and  thorough,  "to  know  some- 
thing of  everything  and  everything  of  something." 

Do  not  read  superficially  nor  accept  all  you  read  as  the  truth, 
solely  because  some  writer  has  had  the  courage  to  put  the  matter  into 
print.  Engineers  are  not  agreed  upon  all  points,  and  many  state- 
ments which  are  made  as  though  they  were  generally  accepted  are 
open  to  question,  sometimes  in  error.  They  must  bear  the  test  of 
reason.  If  they  do  not,  there  is  something  the  matter  with  them  or 
with  your  reasoning,  and  it  is  well  to  determine  positively  which  is  at 
fault. 

Read  descriptions  of  designs  and  of  methods  of  construction,  in 
order  that  you  may  have  ready  for  use  the  results  of  other  men's 
thought  and  experience.  You  should  profit  by  their  errors;  and  fre- 
quently a  new  application  of  a  method  or  a  slight  improvement  upon 
it  will  effect  much.  Each  generation  of  engineers  must  begin  where 
the  preceding  left  off,  if  we  are  to  make  progress.  Yet  each  year  en- 
gineers waste  much  labor  by  re-inventing  and  re-devising  what  has  al- 
ready been  well  done;  and  much  money  is  squandered  in  repeating  er- 


HARRINGTON.  91 

rors  which  should  have  taught  a  lesson,  all  through  lack  of  familiarity 
with  technical  literature,  or  the  lack  of  a  library.  Remember  that 
progress  is  made  by  small  increments  and  with  much  stumbling  and 
many  falls,  rather  than  by  spectacular  leaps  and  bounds.  Wonders 
are  rarely  found  outside  the  columns  of  our  sensation  loving  news- 
papers. And  if  you  want  to  make  all  your  strength  and  ability  ef- 
fective, do  not  ignore  what  other  men  have  done,  but  employ  their 
results  honestly  and  freely  as  a  basis  for  your  own  work.  Acquire 
with  the  utmost  dispatch  and  with  much  financial  sacrifice,  if  need 
be,  a  well  selected  and  comprehensive  reference  library.  Obtain  at 
least  one  good  book  upon  each  subject  as  early  as  possible;  and  buy 
the  back  numbers  of  the  principal  engineering  journals  and  technical 
society  transactions  for  a  period  of  ten  years  or  so  previous  to  your 
graduation.  You  must  be  able  to  turn  at  need  to  the  records  of  what 
has  been  done  as  well  as  to  what  other  engineers  are  now  doing,  if  you 
would  save  yourself  labor  and  error.  The  field  is  not  virgin  and  you 
are  not  pioneers.  At  the  same  time  you  must  neither  become  a  slave 
to  precedent  nor  so  fear  falling  into  the  errors  of  others  that  you  fail 
to  act  on  your  own  initiative.  Only  those  who  do  nothing  never  make 
mistakes. 

Immediately  after  graduation  join  the.  principal  technical  society 
in  your  own  line,  read  the  papers  and  discussions,  and  attend  the 
meetings  if  possible.  And  as  fast  as  your  years  and  experience  permit, 
move  on  to  the  higher  grades  of  membership.  This  identifies  you 
with  your  profession,  places  at  your  disposal  the  most  advanced  pro- 
fessional thought,  acquaints  you  with  the  leaders  among  your  pro- 
fessional brethren,  and  as  soon  as  you  are  prepared  to  take  part  in  the 
discussions,  supplies  the  means  for  recording  your  own  thought  and 
aids  you  in  establishing  your  own  fame. 

Read  from  the  beginning  all  you  can  find  relating  to  the  lives  and 
works  of  famous  engineers.  There  is  no  greater  source  of  inspiration, 
no  more  certain  method  of  obtaining  a  well  balanced  understanding 
of  the  whole  field  of  engineering,  no  surer  way  of  gaining  a  knowledge 
of  what  qualities  in  men  make  for  success.  Much  encouragement  will  be 
drawn  from  this  source,  and  many  a  pitfall  avoided. 

Another  neglected  means  of  assistance  is  the  miscellaneous  papers 
prepared  by  professional  men  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  younger 
men  to  start  aright  and  to  pursue  the  best  course.  Addresses  to  grad- 
uating classes  and  papers  relating  to  special  engineering  subjects  fre- 
quently contain  many  valuable  suggestions.  Sometimes  they  are  made 
available  by  publication  in  pamphlet  form,  in  the  technical  press,  or 
in  book  form.  Dr.  Humphreys,  President  of  Stevens  Institute  of 
Technology,  has  published  two  volumes  of  papers  written  by  him- 


92  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

self  and  other  prominent  practitioners,  many  papers  by  Dr.  Waddell 
and  others  have  been  presented  in  pamphlet  form;  and  the  engineering 
journals  occasionally  publish  the  important  portions  of  able  addresses 
and  papers. 

The  public  libraries  in  our  larger  cities  are  of  material  service  in 
both  technical  and  cultural  lines.  Their  chief  value  lies  in  enabling 
you  to  examine  books  before  purchasing  them  and  in  the  reference 
books  they  possess.  But  it  is  well  to  remember  that  any  book  which 
is  worth  reading  should  be  purchased,  in  order  that  it  may  be  referred 
to  or  read  again  at  pleasure ;  for  no  one  can  remember  all  he  reads. 

Supplementing  the  reading  along  purely  technical  lines,  it  is  well 
to  take  up  at  a  comparatively  early  period  the  sounder  books  relating 
to  methods  of  accounting,  shop  and  railway  management,  banking  and 
finance,  the  laws  of  contracts,  and  the  laws  governing  construction. 
A  knowledge  of  all  these  subjects  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  engineer 
who  reaches  the  top.  Let  me  cite  one  or  two  cases  in  illustration. 
My  firm  was  recently  called  upon  to  examine  an  important  bridge,  to 
report  upon  its  condition,  and  to  advise  what  would  be  the  cost  of  a 
new  single-track  structure,  the  cost  of  a  double-track  structure,  and  the 
cost  of  a  single-track  superstructure  supported  on  piers  which  would 
ultimately  carry  another  single-track  superstructure.  The  present 
traffic  requires  but  a  single-track,  therefore  it  was  also  necessary  to 
advise  the  client  how  soon  the  traffic  must  be  sufficient  to  make  a 
double-track  structure  necessary,  in  order  to  warrant  the  higher  present 
cost  of  the  second  and  third  types  of  bridge,  and  how  much  of  the  cost 
in  each  case  would  be  chargeable  to  maintenance  and  how  much  to 
improvements. 

Some  years  since  a  railroad  company  by  which  I  was  employed 
was  obliged  to  renew  the  superstructures  of  two  bridges  over  the  Ohio 
River.  Navigation  interests  demanded  wider  channels  than  the  old 
bridges  provided;  and  before  the  War  Department  would  grant  per- 
mission to  build  new  superstructures  on  the  old  piers,  without  increase 
of  span  length,  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  prepare  a  statement  showing 
what  present  payment  the  United  States  must  make  in  order  to  com- 
pensate the  railroad  company  for  the  increase  in  first  cost  of  the 
larger  span  in  one  bridge  and  of  a  cantilever  structure  in  the  other, 
and  for  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  maintaining,  and  ultimately  of  re- 
newing, the  more  expensive  structures. 

Such  statements  as  these  require  for  their  preparation  a  sound 
knowledge  of  accounting,  of  funding,  and  of  maintenance  charges. 
Yet  they  are  less  complicated  than  many  statements  the  engineers  for 
manufacturers  find  it  necessary  to  make. 


HARRINGTON.  93 

The  knowledge  gained  by  all  the  reading  we  have  considered  is 
rendered  much  more  available  if  the  library  be  well  indexed.  There 
is  a  general  index  of  engineering  literature  which  should  be  purchased 
early;  an  excellent  index  of  current  technical  periodicals  appears  in  the 
Proceedings  oi  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers;  and  the  en- 
gineering papers  provide  an  index  for  each  volume;  but  it  is  advan- 
tageous for  every  engineer^to  make  a  special  index  of  his  own  library, 
including  everything  but  the  handbooks ;  for  there  are  many  valuable 
pamphlets  and  documents  which  are  not  mentioned  in  any  published 
index;  and  the  making  of  an  index  not  only  classifies  one's  knowledge 
and  saves  much  valuable  time,  but  it  teaches  the  method  and  the  sys- 
tem which  govern  in  all  large  organizations.  Indexing  is  something 
of  an  art  and  merits  careful  study,  therefore  I  would  call  attention  to 
two  good  articles  on  the  subject  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  earlier 
1907  numbers  of  Technical  Literature.  As  you  reach  a  higher  pro- 
fessional position,  the  increase  in  the  size  and  scope  of  your  library  and 
the  greater  demands  upon  your  time  make  it  essential  for  you  to  leave 
the  indexing  to  assistants;  but  you  will  always  find  it  advantageous  to 
keep  in  close  touch  with  the  work. 

It  is  advisable  to  go  through  your  library  from  time  to  time  and 
weed  out  antiquated  material.  Do  not  let  the  possession  of  an  old 
edition  of  a  book  keep  you  from  purchasing  a  more  recent  one,  but 
make  sure  that  the  new  edition  is  altered  in  more  than  the  title ;  for 
publishers  often  make  new  editions  on  account  of  very  trivial  revisions. 
Watch  the  reviews  for  criticisms  of  new  books  and  buy  promptly  what- 
ever seems  valuable  to  you.  The  profession  is  making  rapid  progress, 
and  books  get  out  of  date  very  quickly ;  therefore  you  must  never  cease 
to  purchase  new  books,  if  your  library  is  to  keep  pace  with  current 
practice.  Collect  the  bulletins  of  the  Geological  Survey  and  the  Bureau 
of  Forestry,  the  Watertown  Arsenal  Reports,  the  Reports  of  the  Chief 
of  Engineers  of  the  Army,  and  other  government  documents.  They 
frequently  contain  much  valuable  information,  and  they  may  be  had 
for  the  asking. 

One  reason  why  young  engineers  do  not  acquire  a  library  is  be- 
cause technical  books  are  expensive.  But  no  condemnation  can  be 
too  severe  of  an  economy  which  has  so  large  an  influence  against  both 
immediate  and  ultimate  success.  Five  hundred  dollars  will  buy  more 
technical  books  and  periodicals  than  are  possessed  by  most  engineers 
who  have  been  out  of  school  from  eight  to  ten  years ;  in  fact  I  doubt 
that  the  average  young  man  spends  thirty  dollars  a  year  for  such  pur- 
chases. I  have  known  many  an  engineer  who  carried  all  his  books 
about  in  his  trunk  and  had  plenty  of  room  left  for  his  clothes.  How 
much  would  the  knowledge  gained  from  the  study  of  books  costing 


94  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

one  hundred  dollars  per  annum  increase  the  earning  power  of  any 
young  engineer?  It  will  vary  with  the  man  and  with  his  opportunities, 
but  two  or  three  times  one  hundred  dollars  a  year  is  an  absurdly  low 
estimate  for  the  earlier  years,  and  ultimately  the  amount  is  not  to  be 
computed. 

But  I  fear  that  in  most  instances  economy  is  but  a  cloak  for  the 
true  reason,  viz.,  that  the  young  man  lacks  the  wisdom  and  the  energy 
to  continue  to  study.  He  thinks  vaguely  that  in  some  easy  way  he 
will  learn  as  he  works  for  his  living,  that  knowledge  and  position  will 
come  to  him  as  an  inheritance.  They  will  not  come  so,  but  disappoint- 
ment will,  with  absolute  certainty. 

The  field  of  engineering  has  become  so  broad,  and  competition  so 
severe,  that  no  one  can  practice  in  many  lines,  as  was  customary 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  since.  The  highest  success  is  to  be  won 
only  by  making  a  specialty  of  one  or  two  of  the  divisions  of  one  branch 
of  engineering.  But  the  foundation  should  be  broad.  The  young  en- 
gineer should  read  one  or  two  of  the  books  relating  to  each  subject, 
and,  when  he  has  chosen  his  specialty,  buy  and  read  all  the  other  books 
which  deal  directly  with  his  work.  As  before  pointed  out,  if  two  or 
more  books  cover  the  same  ground,  each  will  present  the  points  in  some 
different  way  which  improves  the  understanding  of  them  and  fixes 
them  more  firmly  in  the  mind.  But  two  books  never  cover  precisely 
the  same  ground.  Each  lays  special  emphasis  on  one  phase  of  the  sub- 
ject and  presents  it  in  a  superior  manner.  Take  bridges  for  instance. 
If  you  have  studied  Johnson,  you  will  find  in  DuBois  a  superior  chap- 
ter on  erection ;  in  Merriman  a  superior  treatment  of  arches,  suspen- 
sion bridges,  movable  bridges,  and  cantilever  structures ;  and  in  Burr  a 
superior  mathematical  treatment  of  the  elastic  theory.  Johnson,  on 
the  other  hand,  has  superior  chapters  on  mill  building  construction  and 
upon  the  aesthetics  of  design.  Again,  Howe's  book  on  arches,  Wright> 
books  on  draw  bridges,  and  Ketchum's  books  on  mill  buildings  and 
on  bins,  specialize  in  those  subjects  and  treat  them  much  more  fully 
than  do  the  four  broad  texts  first  mentioned.  You  have  not  covered 
the  general  field  properly  until  you  have  read  these  four  principal 
books,  and  you  have  not  covered  the  subjects  of  bridge  superstructure 
design,  and  of  steel  building  design  which  is  almost  inseparable  from 
it,  until  you  have  studied  the  many  special  books  dealing  with  par- 
ticular branches  of  it;  and,  if  you  are  taking  up  bridge  work  as  a 
specialty,  you  have  only  begun  when  you  have  mastered  these.  You 
must  yet  study  the  metallurgy  of  iron  and  steel  and  the  various  other 
alloys  of  iron,  the  chemistry  of  paint,  methods  of  fabrication,  methods 
of  testing  and  inspecting,  the  design  and  construction  of  foundations 
by  the  pneumatic,  open  dredging,  and  other  processes,  the  construe- 


HARRINGTON.  95 

tion  of  reinforced  concrete  bridges  and  floors,  paving,  lighting,  the 
operation  of  signals,  the  various  prime  movers  used  to  operate  move- 
able  bridges,  shore  protection,  field  work  in  connection  with  bridge 
construction,  piles  and  pile  driving,  timber  trestles,  and  creosoting  and 
other  methods  of  timber  treatment.  Will  a  thorough  study  of  all  these 
subjects  make  you  a  bridge  engineer?  Not  at  all.  They  constitute 
only  the  strictly  technical  phases  of  the  subject.  Specifications  and 
contracts,  organization  and  management  of  manufacturing  plants  and 
construction  forces,  business  systems,  contracting,  accounting,  and 
finance,  are  all  subjects  which  the  bridge  engineer  must  study.  In 
addition,  if  an  engineer  is  to  attain  the  highest  professional  position, 
he  must  be  a  man  among  men,  must  be  a  well  read,  cultured  gentle- 
man, able  to  meet  on  their  own  ground  men  in  business  and  in  other 
professions,  and  to  make  himself  a  power  among  them. 

A  similar  broad  and  thorough  preparation  is  essential  for  the  prac- 
tice of  any  other  specialty.  The  engineer  who  turns  his  attention  to 
the  sale  of  machinery,  electrical  apparatus,  steel  work,  or  other  en- 
gineering materials  and  equipment,  must  have  a  detailed  and  accurate 
technical  knowledge  of  his  specialty  and  a  broad  view  of  the  general 
field,  must  know  much  of  business  and  finance,  and  must  have  all  the 
culture,  tact,  and  finesse  of  a  diplomat  as  well.  The  large  and  growing 
field  of  technical  journalism  demands  men  of  the  highest  calibre,  men 
who  are  sound  in  their  fundamental  knowledge  of  many  lines  and  so 
familiar  with  good  practice  that  they  may  write  with  authority  on 
many  very  different  subjects.  We  have  only  to  look  over  the  back 
numbers  of  the  technical  papers  to  see  what  advances  in  this  branch 
of  the  engineering  profession  have  been  made. in  a  few  years;  while 
acquaintance  with  any  good  paper  will  show  that  the  technical  journ- 
alist must  have  an  exceedingly  broad  view  of  a  large  field  and  yet  must 
be  exceptionally  sound,  if  the  pitfalls  of  hastily  written  leaders  and 
false  theory  are  to  be  avoided. 

Substantially  all  the  officers  of  many  of  the  large  companies  en- 
gaged in  manufacturing,  construction,  and  transportation  have  been 
chosen  from  the  engineering  staff ;  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
railroading,  mining,  all  mechanical  lines  of  business,  and  all  construc- 
tion work  will  be  in  the  hands  of  the  technically  educated  engineer. 
The  material  progress  of  the  world  is  dependent  upon  him.  It  is  true 
that  he  is  not  sufficient  unto  himself.  He  is  a  practical  man  and  em- 
ploys in  his  work  whatever  knowledge  and  material  he  can  obtain  from 
others.  He  uses  freely  the  discoveries  of  the  mathematician,  the  chem- 
ist, and  the  physicist;  the  material  resources  of  the  earth;  and  the 
fruits  of  the  skill  and  labor  of  the  farmer,  the  artisan,  and  the  ordinary 


96  INDIVIDUAL   ENGINEERING   LIBRARIES. 

workman.     But  he  is  chiefly  responsible  for  the  material  progress  and 
for  much  of  the  intellectual  progress  of  the  human  race. 

The  field  is  broad,  the  compensation  is  large,  and  the  possibilities 
are  unlimited.  Will  you  take  advantage  of  them?  Will  you  employ 
all  your  strength,  all  your  energy,  all  your  ability  to  meet  every  re- 
quirement for  the  highest  order  of  success?  Or  do  you  prefer  a  life 
of  ease  and  obscurity?  It  is  for  you  to  determine.  Your  fate  is  in 
vour  own  hands. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  THE  TECHNICAL  PRESS 
WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  ENGINEERING 

NEWS. 

By 
Harwood  Frost,  B.  A.   Sc. 

Some  readers  may  claim,  perhaps  with  a  certain  amount  of  jus- 
tice, that  this  paper  is  in  the  nature  of  an  advertisement  for  an  en- 
gineering journal,  as  its  author  was  the  Secretary  of  Engineering  News; 
nevertheless  all  the  statements  in  it  are  correct,  and  the  advice  which 
it  offers  engineering  students  is  good  and  sound.  The  Editors  can 
do  nothing  but  say  "amen"  to  Mr.  Frost's  remarks  and  express  the 
hope  that  their  readers  may  profit  by  his  words  of  wisdom. 

As  is  evidenced  by  the  numerous  asterisks  employed,  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  address  has  been  omitted.  This  does  not  mean  that  the 
deleted  parts  are  in  any  way  objectionable,  but  simply  that  they  are 
not  pertinent  to  the  objects  of  this  compilation  of  addresses. 

Editors. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  THE  TECHNICAL  PRESS. 

By 
Harwood  Frost,  B.  A.  Sc. 

This  subject  is  one  of  great  importance  to  every  engineering  stu- 
dent and  every  practicing  engineer.  It  is  a  subject  with  which  the 
staff  of  every  high-class  engineering  journal  is  brought  into  close  touch 
and  it  is  in  connection  with  this  that  I  wish  to  address  you,  in  an  effort 
to  explain  something  of  the  many  forms  of  engineering  literature,  of 
its  production,  and  of  its  educational  value  and  its  necessity  in  the 
work  of  the  engineer. 

Under  the  general  title  of  'The  Technical  Press"  may  be  included, 
not  only  periodic  literature,  but  also  books,  trade  publications  of  a  cer- 
tain kind,  and  pamphlets,  bulletins,  and  proceedings  issued  by  engineer- 
ing societies,  by  the  government  departments,  and  by  individuals.  The 
term  is  a  broad  one ;  too  broad,  in  fact,  to  discuss  satisfactorily  on 
this  occasion,  hence  I  shall  confine  myself  to  technical  books  and  peri- 
odicals. The  other  elements  of  the  technical  press,  have,  in  many 
cases,  a  considerable  educational  value,  but  trade  publications  and  gov- 
ernment bulletins  can  generally  be  obtained  for  the  asking,  or  for  a 
few  cents,  and  are  not  looked  on  with  the  same  respect  as  the  period- 
ical or  book  for  which  you  have  paid  out  several  dollars  of  your  hard- 
earned  cash.  This  is  the  class  of  literature  with  which  you  will  be 
brought  in  close  contact  throughout  your  professional  career,  and  to 
get  the  best  value  for  your  money,  there  is  need  of  careful  considera- 
tion in  your  purchases. 

The  "Technical  Press," — using  the  term  to  represent  book  and 
periodic  literature — must  be  considered  in  itself  an  educational  insti- 
tution. It  is  a  school  in  which  not  only  the  professor  and  the  stu- 
dent study  together,  but  also  the  men  in  active  practice,  ranging  from 
the  green  graduate,  trying  to  hold  down  his  first  job,  to  the  old  fel- 
lows, the  Nestors  of  the  profession,  full  of  years  and  honors,  but  it 
is  a  fact,  that  in  spite  of  their  years  and  honors  and  their  bank  accounts, 
however  large  they  may  be,  they  never  reach  that  point  in  their  pro- 
fessional careers  where  they  feel  that  they  can  do  without  the  instruction 
supplied  by  the  technical  press. 

Do  not  make  the  mistake  of  allowing  yourselves  to  think  that  your 
graduation  from  this  school  has  made  you  "Engineers."  Your  instruc- 
tors have  laid  good  foundations;  they  have  set  up  the  piers,  but  the 

99 


100  THE  TECHNICAL  PRESS. 

superstructures  must  yet  be  built,  and  in  that  every  man  is  his  own 
architect.  Your  graduation  simply  means  your  entrance  into  a  broader 
field  of  activity  in  which  you  will  be  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
real  problems  of  life,  and  if  you  decide  to  follow  out  your  line  of  studies 
and  take  up  the  profession  and  practice  of  engineering,  you  will  find 
that  your  success  will,  in  a  large  measure,  depend  on  the  use  you  make 
of  the  literature  of  your  profession. 

You  have  probably  been  told  often  that  experience  is  the  greatest 
teacher  and  the  best  school,  but  while  it  certainly  is  one  that  every  one 
of  you  will  have  to  go  through,  sooner  or  later,  no  man  ever  achieved 
great  success  who  depended  solely  on  his  own  experience  for  enlighten- 
ment. The  technical  press  records  for  your  benefit  the  experience  of 
others,  and  it  is  on  this  experience  that  you  must  depend  principally 
for  the  building  of  the  superstructure  of  your  professional  career. 

In  referring  to  the  technical  press  as  an  educational  institution,  I 
do  not  wish  to  imply  that  it  should  be  considered  as  a  substitute  for  the 
college.  The  high-class  technical  journal  does  not  attempt  to  give  you 
an  elementary  education,  or  to  duplicate  what  you  have  already  learned 
or  are  supposed  to  have  learned  in  college.  It  excludes  from  its  columns 
nearly  all  matter  of  an  elementary  nature  and  such  material  as  may  be 
found  in  standard  text-books  or  which  is  already  a  matter  of  common 
knowledge  to  the  profession.  It  seeks  for  the  benefit  of  its  readers 
the  sort  of  information  that  is  not  yet  found  in  text-books  nor  taught  in 
the  class  room.  Wherever  a  man  is  doing  work  in  a  new  or  better  way 
than  others ;  wherever  new  and  better  tools  are  made,  or  new  processes 
devised;  wherever  progress  is  being  achieved,  it  is  the  province  of  the 
technical  press  to  investigate  that  progress  and  to  make  it  public  for 

the  general  benefit. 

******  **** 

Two  generations  ago,  engineering  literature,  as  we  know  it,  was 
practically  non-existent;  today,  there  are  several  hundred  weekly  and 
monthly  technical  publications ;  there  are  hundreds  of  engineering 
societies  of  all  grades,  from  the  great  national  organizations  to  the 
local  societies  in  towns  and  colleges,  many  of  which  publish  periodic 
proceedings  containing  the  papers  and  discussions  presented  at  their 
meetings.  Add  to  this  the  avalanche  of  new  books  on  engineering  sub- 
jects that  is  being  poured  forth  by  the  various  publishing  houses ;  add 
further,  the  thousands  of  trade  publications  issued  by  manufacturing 
concerns,  many  of  which  are  real  engineering  treatises;  add  again  the 
vast  volume  of  technical  literature  published  by  the  government  in  the 
form  of  specialized  bulletins,  and  then  consider  that  this  overwhelming 
flood  of  literature  is  the  production  of  America  alone  and  that  England, 
France,  Germany,  Italy,  Spain,  and  even  Russia  and  Japan,  are  also  pro- 


FROST.  (';?'        101 


ducing  literature  in  greater  or  less  quantities./  . 

you  will  see  what  a  problem  is  presented  in  this  'huge  bulk  of  printed 
material,  and  will  realize  how  true  it  is  that  "Of  the  making  of  many 
books  there  is  no  end." 

No  man  can  read  all  this  literature;  no,  not  the  tenth  part  of 
it,  even  were  he  to  do  absolutely  nothing  else.  If  you  select  any  spec- 
ialized subject,  such  as  "Road-making."  how  many  titles  are  there? 
You  might  say  a  dozen,  or  two  dozen.  In  making  up  a  reference  bibli- 
ography of  this  subject  recently,  selecting  only  the  works  of  historical 
and  practical  value  and  discarding  the  many  pamphlets  and  government 
documents  of  little  or  no  permanent  value,  and  omitting  all  trade  pub- 
lications, I  compiled  a  list  of  nearly  500  titles  in  the  English  language 
alone,  and  this  subject  does  not  approach  in  volume  some  others,  such 
as  Structural  Engineering  and  the  Building  Trades,  for  instance.  This 
list,  however,  covered  the  period  from  1600  to  1910  and  of  these  15 
were  issued  in  the  seventeenth  century;  50  in  the  eighteenth  century; 
250  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  150  in  the  first  ten  years  of  the 
present  century.  What  it  will  be  before  the  year  2000,  is  beyond  cal- 
culation. 

Some  of  these  books  attempted  to  treat  the  subject  in  an  encyclo- 
pedic manner,  such  as  Byrne's  1000-page  "Treatise  on  Highway  Con- 
struction" ;  others  specialize  in  some  one  or  two  features  of  the  sub- 
ject, such  as  Soper's  "Modern  Methods  of  Street  Cleaning"  and  Jud- 
son's  "Dust  Prevention."  When  you  consider  this  large  volume  of 
literature,  you  wonder  what  becomes  of  it,  and  who  reads  it  all.  As  I 
said,  no  man  can  read  it  all,  and  no  man  in  his  right  senses  would  or 
should  want  to  do  so. 

There  are  not  only  many  books,  but  there  are  also  many  kinds  of 
books.  There  are  books  describing  good  engineering  practice,  but 
poorly  written,  and  there  are  books  that  are  good  literature,  but  bad 
practice.  There  are  books,  excellently  written,  perhaps,  but  based  on 
wrong  theories  or  advocating  the  authors'  personal  fads.  So  also, 
there  are  many  kinds  of  writers  and  many  ways  of  writing  books.  There 
is  the  "hack"  writer  who  will  produce  a  book  on  any  subject,  of  any 
length,  in  almost  any  given  time.  His  method  is  to  accumulate  a  quan- 
tity of  printed  material  on  the  subject,  from  any  source,  and  rehash  it 
into  readable  shape,  and  to  the  desired  quantity.  He  may,  or  may  not 
know  anything  of  the  subject  of  which  he  writes,  but  he  assumes  that 
what  has  already  been  written  by  those  who  do  know,  and  published  by 
those  who  are  supposed  to  discriminate,  is  good  enough  for  his  purposes. 
Such  books  contribute  nothing  to  our  store  of  technical  information; 
they  are  often  misleading  and  unreliable,  but  their  production  is  cheap, 


102  t  V  :  ;  THE  TECHNICAL  PRESS. 

and  .a  ^sufficient  number  can  .always  be  sold  through  modern  advertising 
methods  to  yield  a  profit  to  both  publisher  and  writer. 

In  contrast  to  this  there  is  the  more  careful  compiler,  the  man 
of  literary  ability  and  breadth  of  mind,  who  studies  his  subject,  collects 
his  material  from  recognized  authorities  and  with  good  judgment  of 
the  value  of  the  literary  productions  of  others,  selects  the  good  from 
the  bad  and  produces  an  evenly  balanced  and  smoothly  reading  treatise. 
This  book  also,  may  add  little  or  nothing  to  existing  knowledge,  but  it 
places  the  best  of  that  knowledge  in  easily  accessible  form  and  con- 
stitutes a  welcome  addition  to  our  library.  Then  there  is  the  treatise 
prepared  by  an  engineer  of  wide  experience  which  may  be  a  valuable 
record  of  achievements,  but  written  in  a  style  about  as  readable  as  the 
patent  office  Gazette  or  the  Census  Report,  while  another  writer  may 
present  practically  the  same  facts  in  a  style  as  readable  as  a  book  of 
fiction.  There  are  also  the  rare  and  occasional  books  that  may  be  re- 
ferred to  as  the  "classics"  of  the  engineering  profession.  They  are  the 
results  of  years  of  careful  and  patient  research,  compilation,  and  selec- 
tion by  men  of  exceptional  education  and  experience. 

In  this  -class  may  be  mentioned  Trautwine's  "Civil  Engineer's 
Pocket-book"  familiarly  known  as  "Trautwine,"  of  which  nearly 
100,000  copies  have  been  sold;  Wellington's  "Economic  Theory  of 
the  Location  of  Railways,"  generally  known  as  "Wellington" — a  book 
now  23  years  old,  but  still  a  standard,  almost  beyond  competition,  al- 
though in  some  parts  rather  obsolete. 

Besides  these,  there  are  books  padded  with  many  useless  words  and 
facts,  books  with  a  scarcity  of  facts,  books  with  a  greatly  mistaken  or 
exaggerated  idea  of  the  importance  of  their  subjects,  and  many  other 
varieties,  too  numerous  to  mention. 

Seldom,  however,  in  technical  literature,  is  an  entire  book  the  origin- 
al production  of  one  man.  Individuals  usually  give  the  first  descrip- 
tions of  their  works  or  results  of  their  investigations  in  the  form  of 
contributions  to  periodicals  or  of  papers  read  before  engineering  socie- 
ties, and  when  such  material  has  become  more  or  less  voluminous,  some- 
one undertakes  to  collect  it,  sift  it,  re-write  and  arrange  it  for  publica- 
tion in  book  form.  If  the  book  is  to  be  a  success,  this  work  of  prepara- 
tion is  a  laborious  matter  and  cannot  be  done  in  a  slipshod  or  careless 
way.  First  and  foremost,  perhaps,  the  writer  must  be  thoroughly 
interested  in  the  subject  and  feel  an  impulse  to  write  on  it;  he  must  be 
moved  by  a  desire  to  contribute  something  to  the  world's  store  of 
knowledge  and  to  fill  a  gap  in  existing  literature,  rather  than  by  a  de- 
sire to  produce  merely  a  commercial  article  for  the  sake  of  the  royalties 
resulting  from  its  sale.  In  the  writing  of  the  book  many  things  must  be 
considered.  A  mere  statement  of  facts  does  not  constitute  a  book.  The 


FROST.  103 

facts  must  be  presented  in  logical  order  and  in  brief  and  grammatical 
language  that  can  convey  but  one  meaning.  Pet  theories  and  fads 
must  be  forgotten  and  illustrations  should  be  used  wherever  necessary 
to  assist  the  reader  in  forming  a  clear  and  concise  understanding  of 
the  text  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  padding  a  slimly  worded  book  up  to 
a  three  dollar  size. 

After  the  manuscript  is  prepared,  the  book  must  be  manufactured 
and  marketed  through  a  publisher,  and  I  think  that  I  am  justified  from 
an  experience  of  some  years  in  saying,  without  going  into  details,  that 
there  are  several  kinds  of  publishers,  from  the  factory  that  turns  out 
"hack"  literature  to  the  publisher  whose  name  is  a  guarantee  of  au- 
thority and  reliability. 

From  this  somewhat  superficial  classification  of  books,  writers,  and 
publishers,  you  can  readily  appreciate  the  necessity  of  most  careful 
selection.  Technical  books  range  in  price  from  $1.00  up,  principally 
up,  and  you  can  spend  a  big  pile  of  money  on  a  small  pile  of  books. 
Therefore,  when  you  buy,  buy  with  care.  Few  engineers  know  what 
they  really  want  in  the  way  of  books.  Some  buy  nearly  everything  in 
their  line  of  interest,  good  and  bad  alike,  but  the  average  engineer  can 
afford  only  a  few  books  on  any  one  subject.  He  wants  only  the  best, 
and  in  many  cases  he  is  not  so  located  that  he  can  examine  the  books 
before  buying.  He  usually  buys  from  the  advertised  descriptions,  de- 
pending entirely  on  the  reputation  of  the  publishers  or  of  the  writer, 
but  he  is  taking  a  leap  in  the  dark  that  may  be  costly,  as  even  the  pub- 
lisher with  an  A-l  reputation  may  not  be  infallible.  I  recollect  an  oc- 
casion when  I  was  looking  over  the  library  of  a  well  known  bridge  en- 
gineer and  on  my  remarking  the  omission  of  several  books  on  his 
specialty,  he  opened  a  drawer  of  his  desk  and  showed  me  quite  a  number 
of  books,  some  issued  by  the  best  known  publishers,  which  he  had  pur- 
posely concealed  from  his  assistants  because  of  their  absolute  untrust- 
worthiness.  The  publisher  does  not,  and  cannot  afford  to  produce  a 
book  with  intention  to  mislead,  but  through  a  mistaken  judgment  of 
his  advisers,  or  through  the  pursuasive  ability  of  a  writer,  he  is  some- 
times induced,  even  against  his  better  judgment,  to  issue  a  work  which 
later  proves  to  be  unreliable.  Such  a  book  not  only  brings  financial  loss 
to  the  publisher,  but  in  the  hands  of  an  inexperienced  man  may  become 
a  source  of  great  danger,  resulting  in  disaster  and  a  ruined  reputation. 

You  will  ask:  "How,  then,  are  we  to  know  what  books  to  buy?" 
That  is  a  serious  question  with  all  engineers,  young  and  old.  The  re- 
views of  books  published  in  the  recognized  engineering  journals,  gen- 
erally speaking,  form  a  good  guide,  but  like  the  books  themselves,  there 
are  various  kinds  of  book  reviews.  The  average  "review"  of  a  tech- 
nical book  is  a  rehash  of  the  author's  preface,  and  knowing  this,  some 


104  THE  TECHNICAL  PRESS. 

authors  make  broad  statements  of  what  their  books  are  or  are  supposed 
to  be,  and  thus  obtain  good  notices,  with  their  consequent  sales.  The 
periodicals  that  actually  review  or  criticize  technical  books  in  an  intelli- 
gent manner,  are  comparatively  few. 

The  "Book  Review  Digest,"  a  guide  for  librarians,  published  in 
Minneapolis,  has  selected  only  four  periodicals  out  of  the  hundreds  in 
the  technical  field  from  which  to  quote  book  criticisms.  These  are 
"Engineering  News,"  "Engineering  Record,"  and  "The  Engineering  Di- 
gest," and  for  electrical  books  only,  the  "Electrical  World." 

I  believe  that  I  can  fairly  say  that  the  book  reviews,  published  in 
the  monthly  Literature  Supplement  of  Engineering  News  form  as  good 
a  guide  to  the  selection  of  engineering  books  as  is  available  to  engineers 
today.  In  these  reviews,  all  books  are  judged  by  the  standard  of  their 
usefulness  to  the  practicing  engineer,  and  the  policy  is  very  strict. 
Practical  engineers,  who  are  recognized  authorities  in  their  various 
fields,  are  selected  as  reviewers;  the  criticisms  are  fair  and  no  favors 
are  shown  to  either  publisher  or  writer;  no  consideration  is  made  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  publisher  is  an  advertiser,  and  no  money  could  buy 
a  favorable  notice  for  an  unworthy  book.  Many  copies  of  Engineering 
News  are  purchased  for  the  sake  of  these  reviews  alone,  and  there  are 
many  engineers  who  will  not  purchase  new  books  on  important  subjects 
until  they  have  seen  reviews  in  Engineering  News.  The  same  policy 
is  adherred  to  in  the  case  of  individual  opinions.  When  a  letter  is 
received  asking  for  an  opinion  as  to  the  best  books  on  a  certain  subject, 
or  for  a  comparison  of  two  or  more  books,  it  receives  careful  considera- 
tion, on  the  basis  that  it  is  better  to  keep  a  man's  good-will  even  at  a 
considerable  expense,  than  to  lose  that  good-will  by  selling  what  may 
be  entirely  unsuitable  for  his  purposes  just  to  make  a  sale.  Hundreds 
of  inquiries  of  this  nature  are  received  every  month  and  that  this  policy 
pays  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  we  are  dealing  today  with  engineers  in 
every  corner  of  the  world — men  whom  we  have -never  seen  and  never 
expect  to  see,  but  who  trust  entirely  to  our  selection  and  judgment. 

Another  point  of  importance  is  the  necessity  of  being  up-to-date 
in  your  technical  reading.  The  necessity  of  the  publishers  keeping  his 
literature  up-to-date  is  one  of  the  main  reasons  for  the  vast  number  of 
books  that  are  published.  Engineering  practice  is  so  constantly  chang- 
ing that  it  needs  many  books  to  keep  pace  with  it,  and  most  of  them 
must  be  new  books,  but  the  best  of  these  run  through  several  editions 
and  remain  standard  for  some  years.  In  regard  to  new  editions,  how- 
ever, it  is  well  to  be  careful.  The  47th  "new  and  revised"  edition  of 
Wood's  "Treatise  on  Railroads,"  or  some  other  such  book,  might  be  an 
interesting  piece  of  literature  and  it  might  also  be  a  most  comprehensive 
work,  but  it  would  have  the  fault  common  to  all  books  that  have  run 


FROST.  105 

through  a  large  number  of  "revised"  editions — a  foundation  based  on 
out-of-date  principles.  It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  so  to  "revise  and 
enlarge"  any  book  through  many  editions,  that  it  will  be  as  thoroughly 
up  to  the  times  as  another  and  entirely  new  book,  written  with  the  most 
modern  conditions  as  a  basis;  and  the  time  must  surely  come  when  the 
old  reliable  treatise,  like  the  defeated  champion,  must  be  dropped  into 
the  regions  of  the  "has-beens." 

To  illustrate  this,  referring  again  to  the  subject  of  "Roadmaking," 
in  1583,  there  was  published  a  book  entitled:  "The  Duties  of  Con- 
stables and  Surveyors  of  Highways."  It  ran  through  seven  editions  in 
25  years,  but  the  art  advanced,  and  in  1610  was  issued  a  new  book  en- 
titled :  "A  Profitable  Work  Concerning  the  Mending  of  Highways." 
This  preached  a  new  doctrine — that  of  highway  repairs.  Then  came 
various  books  telling  how  to  make  these  repairs;  later  MacAdam,  Tel- 
ford,  and  Metcalf  came  on  the  scene  and  propounded  new  theories  of 
construction  which  called  for  many  more  books  and  pamphlets.  Later 
followed  the  invention  of  the  stone  crusher,  the  steam  roller,  the  road 
machine,  mechanical  excavators  and  other  machinery  for  road  con- 
struction; a  great  variety  of  mechanical  devices  for  street  cleaning;  a 
variety  of  paving  and  road-making  materials,  and  finally  the  automobile 
with  its  accompanying  dust  problem.  All  these  call  for  special  treat- 
ment and  cause  the  production  of  literature  in  the  proportions  of  an 
inverted  pyramid.  Pages  might  be  quoted  from  many  technical  books 
published  within  the  last  ten  years  to  show  of  how  little  value  much  of 
this  literature  is  today,  and  the  uselessness  of  out-of-date  engineering 
books,  but  I  will  only  quote  one  sentence  from  the  aforementioned 
Wood's  "Practical  Treatise  on  .Railroads,"  the  standard  of  1825,  in 
which  the  author  seriously  states  that  "Nothing  can  do  more  harm  to 
the  adoption  of  railroads,  than  the  promulgation  of  such  nonsense  a? 
that  we  shall  see  locomotive  engines  traveling  at  the  rate  of  12,  16,  18 
and  20  miles  per  hour."  Recent  books  on  the  subject  of  flying  machines 
and  some  other  subjects  become  out-of-date  in  many  of  their  state- 
ments almost  before  they  are  off  the  press. 

-  This  is  sufficient,  I  think,  to  show  you  the  importance  of  keeping 
up-to-date  in  your  reading,  and  of  keeping  pace  with  new  developments 
in  that  field  of  engineering  in  which  your  interests  lie. 

As  to  the  extent  to  which  you  should  keep  pace  with  these  new  de- 
velopments, let  me  quote  from  an  address  by  Mr.  C.  W.  Baker,  Chief 
Editor  of  Engineering  News,  before  the  students  of  the  University  of 
Michigan. 

"Take,  for  example,  that  branch  of  engineering  known  as  Water 
Power  Development.  We  do  not  have  to  go  back  more  than  40  years 
to  reach  the  time  when  the  old  'mill-wrights'  were  the  men  who  ac- 


106  THE  TECHNICAL  PRESS. 

tually  did  all  the  work  that  was  done  in  this  country  in  the  develop- 
ment of  water-power.  All  the  knowledge  they  needed  was  carried  under 
their  hats,  with  perhaps  some  few  rules  copied  in  a  private  note-book. 
Today,  however,  an  engineer  who  conducts  a  water-power  development 
enterprise  must,  either  directly  or  through  assistants,  be  familiar  with 
the  latest  practice  in  stream  gaging,  dam  construction,  hydraulic  motors 
and  regulators,  electric  generation,  transmission  and  utilization,  and 
power-house  construction,  to  say  nothing  of  such  matters  as  the  re- 
lation between  engineers  and  contractors,  executive  methods,  dealings 
with  labor  organizations,  franchises,  and  riparian  rights.  It  may  be 
well,  also,  for  him  to  know  how  to  handle  a  board  of  directors  and  float 
a  'bond  issue. 

"Perhaps  you  may  object  that  no  one  engineer  can  do  all  this,  but 
the  fact  is  that  engineers,  in  the  aggregate,  are  doing  all  these  things ; 
and  that  every  successful  engineer  today  finds  himself  constantly  in 
need  of  knowledge  that  he  cannot  carry  in  his  head  and  for  which  he 
must  rely  on  the  experience  of  others,  as  recorded  in  professional  litera- 
ture." 

This  brings  up  to  the  engineer  the  problem  of  digging  out  of  the 
mass  of  literature  offered  him  the  things  which  he  wants  and  needs ; 
and  it  puts  up  to  the  makers  of  this  literature  the  problem  of  how  to 
turn  out  their  product  in  usable  form ;  how  to  give  the  engineer  what  he 
needs  and  give  it  to  him  in  such  shape  that  he  can  make  practical  use 
of  it. 

In  a  general  way,  it  would  appear  that  the  solution  of  this  problem 
lies  in  the  direction  of  specialization.  This  is  an  age  of  specialization.  In 
law  the  lines  of  specialism  are  drawn  very  fine  and  there  is  hardly  a  law- 
yer whose  field  of  activity  is  not  well  fenced  in,  and  in  medicine,  the 
all-around  family  doctor  of  a  generation  ago  has  given  way  to  a  hun- 
dred or  more  specialists.  In  the  engineering  profession  specialization  is 
almost  as  extensive,  but  it  is  a  thing  more  recent  than  we  are  apt  to 
realize.  The  only  real  engineering  work  done  a  century  ago  was  in  the 
construction  of  canals.  The  profession  naturally  developed  with  the 
growth  of  the  country  along  more  or  less  distinct  lines,  but  its  formal 
differentiation  into  the  four  great  main  branches  of  Civil,  Mechanical, 
Electrical,  and  Mining  has  taken  place  within  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Today  each  of  these  great  divisions  is  sub-divided  many  times  and  each 
of  these  sub-divisions  has  its  own  special  literature. 

To  the  uninitiated,  it  might  appear  that  an  engineer  does  not  have 
to  read  the  whole  vast  mass  of  the  literature  of  his  profession,  but  only 
that  relating  to  his  own  specialty.  Actually,  however,  the  problem  does 
not  work  out  so  easily.  There  are  no  tight  fences  built  between  the  dif- 
ferent specialties,  and  he  would  be  a  foolish  man  who  would  build  such 


FROST.  107 

a  fence  around  himself  and  limit  his  view  of  life  to  what  he  could  see  in 
one  direction  through  a  little  peep-hole.  On  the  contrary,  the  boundaries 
overlap  on  every  side.  Here  is  an  engineer,  let  us  say,  of  a  Portland 
cement  works,  interested  in  the  use  'of  cement  in  buildings,  bridges,  dams, 
and  a  hundred  other  structures,  and  also  in  the  appliances  of  the  mine 
and  the  quarry,  in  steam-shovels,  kilns,  hoisting  and  conveying  ma- 
chinery, and  in  the  conveying  of  materials.  Manifestly,  then,  this  en- 
gineer wants  something  more  than  the  literature  of  Portland  cement 
manufacture. 

Another  reason  why  an  engineer  cannot  wisely  make  his  reading  of 
too  limited  scope  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  all  construction  work  the  en- 
gineer is  constantly  working  himself  out  of  a  job,  and  every  change 
presents  new  problems  of  its  own  for  solution.  You  will  readily  under- 
stand, therefore,  why  the  question  of  a  too  voluminous  engineering 
literature  cannot  be  disposed  of  simply  by  saying  that  each  engineer 
shall  read  the  literature  of  his  own  special  branch.  If  he  is  wise  and 

ambitious,  he  will  read  that  and  much  more. 

#****#**.*** 

There  is  a  very  considerable  amount  of  engineering  literature  that 
assumes  to  itself  an  air  of  superiority  because  of  the  fact  that  it  is  of 
no  use  whatever,  such  as  the  theoretical  discussions  and  records  of  ex- 
perimental research  which  wander  so  far  away  from  the  practical 
worker  that  he  can  never  make  any  use  of  the  results. 

When  you  make  a  critical  analysis  of  engineering  literature,  measur- 
ing it  all  by  the  standard  just  stated,  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  what 
a  large  portion  of  space  in  some  engineering  journals  and  society  trans- 
actions is  taken  up  with  such  matter,  which  nobody  ever  used  and  no- 
body ever  will  use. 

There  seems  to  be  an  idea  among  a  certain  class,  that  the  thing 
which  is  directly  useful  has  a  plebeian  odor  about  it,  while  useless  know- 
ledge has  something  of  the  same  odor  of  sanctity  that  clings  around  the 
old  classical  studies.  So  in  the  application  of  science,  theory  is  too  often 
set  on  a  pedestal,  and  elaborate  researches  are  carried  on  to  search  out 
facts  which,  when  they  are  found,  are  of  no  earthly  use  to  anyone. 

Theory  is  all  right  in  its  place,  aimed  straight  at  practical  results^ 
but  vague  theorizing  and  experimenting,  with  nothing  more  in  view 
than  a  hazy  possibility  that  somebody,  sometime,  somewhere,  may  find 
it  useful,  only  cumbers  our  already  overcrowded  literature  with  useless, 
stuff,  and  occupies  the  space  needed  for  things  of  greater  importance. 

Another  sort  of  literature  which,  at  the  present  day,  ought  to  be 
scrutinized  very  carefully,  is— descriptions  of  engineering  works.  It 
may  seem  strange  to  you  that  descriptions  of  engineering  work  should 
not  have  the  first  place.  There  was  a  time,  not  many  years  ago,  when 


108  THE  TECHNICAL  PRESS. 

engineering  journals  consisted  almost  wholly  of  such  material,  but  no 
journal  could  today  attempt  to  publish  descriptions  of  every  engineering 
work — every  bridge  and  water-works  and  steam-engine  or  mine  or 
power  station,  and  so  on  throughout  the  whole  range  of  activity  of  a 
thousand  busy  engineers.  Such  descriptive  matter  would  answer  no 
good  purpose,  and,  in  fact,  would  be  the  least  useful.  You  will  find 
that  the  engineering  journals  and  society  transactions  in  which  this 
class  of  articles  consumes  a  large  portion  of  the  space  are  left  to  accumu- 
late unread  upon  the  shelves,  or  find  a  final  resting  place  in  the  waste- 
basket. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Every  engineer  wants  to  keep  in  touch  with  everything  of  import- 
ance that  is  published,  affecting  his  interests;  but  such  material  may  be 
published  in  any  one  of  a  hundred  or  more  periodicals  and  no  man 
can  attempt  to  read  them  all,  even  if  he  could  afford  to  buy  them.  The 
best,  and  practically  the  only,  method  of  getting  this  information,  that 
is  open  to  the  busy  engineer,  is  through  the  use  of  an  index,  such  as 
the  "Technical  Press  Index,"  published  in  connection  with  "Industrial 
Engineering  and  The  Engineering  Digest."  This  gives  each  month 
all  details  and  brief  summaries  of  about  500  important  articles  published 
during  the  preceding  month,  and  by  using  this  as  a  supplement  to  his 
reading  of  two  or  three  of  the  leading  periodicals  in  his  field,  an  engi- 
neer will  have  at  his  command  everything  of  special  interest  to  him. 
****** 

In  conclusion,  I  believe  that  it  would  pay  everyone  of  you  to  read 
Engineering  News — not  to  look  it  over  superficially  in  the  library,  but 
to  subscribe  for  it,  to  receive  a  personal  copy,  to  study  it  weekly  as  re- 
ceived, and  to  have  your  copies  bound  and  carefully  preserved  for 
future  reference.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  most  of  our  subscrib- 
ers preserve  and  bind  their  copies  of  Engineering  News,  and  while  from 
one  point  of  view  it  is  of  no  interest  to  us  what  becomes  of  our  issues 
after  they  reach  the  subscribers,  in  pursuance  of  our  purpose  to  make 
the  journal  of  the  greatest  usefulness  to  the  engineering  profession, 
we  would  strongly  advise  our  readers  to  preserve  their  files  complete. 

We  are  aware  that  some  of  our  readers  pursue  the  practice  of  cut- 
ting from  the  paper  such  articles  as  are  in  their  special  line  of  work  at 
the  time,  which  they  file  on  some  system  or  other,  and  throw  away  the 
rest  of  the  paper.  Perhaps  if  a  man  were  absolutely  sure  that  he  would 
follow  a  particular  specialty  all  his  life  long  and  would  never  have  need 
of  information  on  any  other  department  of  engineering  work,  this  would 
be  a  good  course  to  pursue;  but  very  few  engineers  can  map  out 
their  future  in  that  way.  Not  many  years  ago,  thousands  of  engineers 
were  devoting  all  their  attention  to  railroad  construction ;  today  nine- 


FROST.  109 

tenths  of  them  are  in  reinforced  concrete  work,  hydro-electric  develop- 
•ment,  contracting,  and  other  fields  of  engineering  work,  and  it  is  quite 
safe  to  say  that  those  fared  the  best  in  making  the  change  who  were  the 
best  equipped  for  the  other  lines  of  work  and  who  had  kept  in  touch 
with  them  so  far  as  possible  during  their  work  on  railroad  construction. 

The  men  who  have  achieved  the  greatest  measure  of  success  are 
the  men  who  have  worked,  read,  and  thought  more  than  was  absolutely 
necessary,  who  have  not  been  content  with  knowledge  sufficient  for 
the  present  needs,  but  who  have  sought  additional  knowledge  and  stored 
it  away  for  the  emergency  reserve. 

It  is  this  apparently  superfluous  labor  that  equips  a  man  for  every- 
thing that  counts  in  life;  and  I  would,  therefore,  advise  you,  in  your 
own  interests,  to  preserve  and  bind  your  files  of  Engineering  News. 
The  possessor  of  these  files  and  the  periodic  indexes  that  .have  been 
issued  will  have  at  hand  an  encyclopedia  of  modern  engineering  pro- 
gress which  will  be  almost  as  easy  of  reference  as  a  dictionary  and 
which  will  constitute  in  itself  a  complete  library  of  engineering  litera- 
ture. The  time  will  come  when  the  information  you  can  find  in  these 
pages  on  other  departments  of  engineering  than  that  upon  which  you 
may  be  at  any  one  time  engaged,  will  be  of  the  greatest  value,  and 
you  will  find  that  your  subscription  must  not  be  considered  as  an  ex- 
pense— it  is  an  investment  that  will  repay  you  many  times  over. 


BUSINESS   TRAINING   FOR  THE   ENGINEER. 

By 

Dr.   Alex.   C.   Humphreys. 

Dr.  Humphreys,  the  President  of  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology, 
is  also  a  practicing  engineer  of  high  standing  who  has  been  so  success- 
ful from  a  business  point  of  view,  that  he  has  come  to  be  acknowledged 
as  the  highest  authority  on  the  question  of  providing  business  courses 
in  technical  schools.  As  an  engineer  to  be  truly  successful  must  be  a 
good  business  man,  it  behooves  the  student  of  engineering  to  read  all 
he  can  about  the  business  features  of  engineering  practice.  Therefore 
the  numerous  books  and  papers  of  Dr.  Humphreys  that  contain  refer- 
ences to  this  subject  are  commanded  to  our  readers  for  perusal.  Most 
of  them  can  be  obtained  through  the  Secretary  of  Stevens  Institute  of 
Technology,  Hoboken,  N.  J. 

Editors. 


Ill 


BUSINESS  TRAINING  FOR   THE  ENGINEER. 


Dr.  Alex.  C.  Humphreys. 

Self-evident  should  be  the  truth  of  the  proposition  that  the  engi- 
neer ought  to  be  a  man  of  business,  or  at  least,  informed  of,  and  pre- 
pared to  conform  to,  business  conditions  and  business  methods.  When 
this  proposition  is  squarely  laid  before  them,  it  is  self-evident  to  the 
majority  of  successful  engineers  and  men  of  business.  Business  men, 
bankers,  and  manufacturers  not  infrequently  refuse  their  confidence  to 
engineers  and  experts  as  a  class,  because,  under  trial,  some  individuals 
have  demonstrated  their  incapacity  to  meet  business  conditions  ;  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  man  of  business  their  reports,  advice,  conclusions 
have  required  interpretation  and  readjustment  or  amendment. 

The  man,  so  far  somewhat  exceptional,  who  is  able  to  bring  to  the 
service  of  his  clients  or  associates  a  sound  technical  training  and  the 
ability  to  meet  business  conditions,  proves  by  his  comparative  success 
the  material  value  of  this  dual  capacity.  For  the  sake  of  the  profession 
and  the  country  at  large  it  is  important  that  this  broader  capacity  should 
no  longer  be  exceptional. 

To  this  end  the  professional  educator  and  the  engineer-student 
must  better  recognize  the  conditions  to  be  met  in  practice.  A  general 
and  definite  demand  on  the  part  of  the  business  world  for  engineers  of 
'such  broader  capacity  would  ensure  the  necessary  reform  in  the  separ- 
ate schools  of  engineering  and  the  university  departments  of  applied 
science.  All  that  is  possible  should  be  done  in  the  technical  schools  to 

harmonize  theory  and  practice. 

********* 

After  graduation  the  young  engineer  will  be  influenced  by  com- 
mercial conditions,  and  perhaps  by  his  own  natural  bent,  to  become  a 
specialist.  To-day  the  field  of  engineering  is  so  wide  and  the  require- 
ments are  so  exacting  that  no  man  can  expect  to  excel  unless  he  con- 
fines himself  within  certain  rather  narrow  limits.  But  no  matter  to 
what  part  of  the  field  he  confines  his  efforts,  he  will  surely  find  himself 
limited  and  bound,  more  or  less,  by  commercial  conditions. 

From  this  it  may  be  argued  that  the  engineer  should  not  aim  to 
be  also  the  commercial  manager  ;  as  a  specialist,  he  should  confine  him- 
self to  the  engineering  branch  of  his  business.  To  this  it  may  be  re- 
plied that  whatever  special  branch  of  industry  is  adopted,  the  engineer 


113 


114  BUSINESS  TRAINING  FOR  THE  ENGINEER. 

must  understand  and  practice  in  harmony  with  the  commercial  condi- 
tions of  that  specialty.  There  may  be  a  further  specialization  between 
the  engineering  and  the  commercial  management,  but  the  engineer 
should  have  at  least  a  knowledge  of  the  general  fundamentals  of  busi- 
ness practice  and  also  a  knowledge  of  the  special  limitations  attaching 
to  the  particular  business  pursued. 

As  in  schools  of  engineering  we  cannot  expect  to  instruct  the  stu- 
dents in  all  the  specializations  of  engineering  science  and  practice,  so 
with  instruction  in  business  methods  we  can  expect  to  give  only  a  broad 
training  in  fundamentals  upon  which  the  student  can  safely  and  ex- 
peditiously  build  when  the  need  for  specialization  is  encountered. 

If  it  be  admitted  that  the  engineer-student  should  receive  some  in- 
struction in  business  methods  before  graduation,  it  then  remains  to  be 
determined  what  can  be  added  in  this  connection  to  a  course  already 
crowded  almost  to  the  limit.  Perhaps  the  matter  of  first  importance  is 
accounting.  We  cannot  expect  to  train  the  students  to  be  expert  book- 
keepers, nor  is  it  necessary  to  do  so;  but  we  can  expect  to  give  them 
what  is  of  more  value  and  what  many  book-keepers  do  not  possess — a 
sound  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  double-entry  book-keeping.  This 
knowledge  engineers  need  to  enable  them  to  exercise  a  close,  intelligent 
and  independent  supervision  of  manufacturing  cost. 

The  students  should  be  taught  carefully  and  conscientiously  to  dis- 
criminate between  the  charges  to  capital  or  revenue,  and  they  should  be 
warned  of  the  ease  with  which  errors  can  be  made  in  this  connection 
and  the  disastrous  consequences  likely  to  follow  their  commission.  They 
should  also  be  shown  the  necessity  for  making  adequate  provision  for 
depreciation  of  plant,  the  scheme  to  be  based  upon  an  exhaustive  analysis 
of  local  conditions  and  not  upon  the  blind  acceptance  of  arbitrary  rules 
formulated  by  accountants.  They  should  be  shown  that  books  can  be  so 
kept,  either  through  ignorance  or  design,  as  to  hide  the  facts  and  to 
present  a  warrant  for  the  payment  of  dividends  unearned.  They  should 
be  shown  that  all  this,  and  much  more,  they  will  need  if  they  are  to  be 
competent  as  managers  or  reliable  as  advisors  in  connection  with  the 
purchase  of  properties. 

They  can  also  be  shown  that  often,  when  called  in  to  pronounce 
on  the  value  of  some  new  apparatus  or  process  where  these  have  already 
been  under  commercial  test,  the  technical  investigation  may  well  be 
supplemented  by  a  competent  examination  of  the  books  of  account ;  and 
that  here  the  man  who  is  only  an  engineer  or  only  an  accountant  will 
probably  be  found  incapable  of  conducting  such  an  examination.  In 
such  a  course  might  also  well  be  included  enough  instruction  in  the 
science  of  statistics  to  warn  the  student  against  the  danger  of  draw- 
ing conclusions  from  insufficient  or  inconsistent  data. 


HUMPHREYS.  115 

In  connection  with  the  work  in  this  and  other  departments  the 
effort  should  be  made  to  bring  the  students  to  a  keener  appreciation  of 
the  value  of  a  working  command  of  English.  They  should  be  shown 
that  it  is  not  enough  that  they  possess  the  knowledge,  but  they  must 
have  the  ability  to  convey  to  others,  and  especially  to  their  clients,  in 
language  concise  and  free  from  ambiguity,  the  results  of  their  profes- 
sional or  administrative  work. 

Unquestionably  there  is  a  crying  need  for  more  efficient  work  in  the 
teaching  of  English  in  the  schools  of  technology,  and  perhaps  this  state- 
ment may  fairly  be  extended  to  include  some  of  the  colleges  and  uni- 
versities. Reform  in  this  direction  is  most  difficult  of  accomplishment. 
The  work  performed  is  too  often  of  a  perfunctory  character,  whereas 
it  should  be  characterized  by  enthusiasm  and  originality.  The  time 
available  is  limited,  and,  therefore,  the  first  care  should  be  to  give  such 
a  training  in  English  as  will  be  most  efficient  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  professional  practice. 

This  leads  naturally  to  another  feature  which  may  well  be  included 
in  the  department  of  business  methods — instruction  in  the  law  of  con- 
tracts. We  cannot  expect  to  give  engineer-students  a  working  knowl- 
edge of  the  law  of  contracts,  but  we  may  very  reasonably  expect  to  im- 
press them  with  the  dangers  to  be  encountered  and  the  necessity  of 
knowing  when  it  is  advisable  to  seek  thoroughly  competent  legal  advice. 
Some  advice  in  this  line  can  also,  to  advantage,  be  included  in  the  lec- 
tures on  engineering  practice. 

********* 

Generally  the  entering  class  in  their  wisdom  are  ready  promptly  to 
denounce  as  useless  or  out  of  place  all  non-technical  studies ;  thus  the 
sympathetic  co-operation  of  the  students,  which  is  such  an  important 
element  in  the  efficient  teaching  required  in  a  full  course  of  study,  is 
not  obtained,  and  the  foundation  is  laid  for  many  regrets  to  be  ex- 
perienced in  the  years  after  graduation. 


RECORDS. 
A  Talk  for  Undergraduate  Students  of  Engineering. 

By 
E.  E.  Howard,  C.  E. 

This  lecture,  which  was  delivered  in  1909  to  the  Engineering 
Society  of  the  University  of  Kansas,  is  on  a  subject  new  to  engineering 
students,  but  at  the  same  time  of  great  importance, — and  not  to  them  only, 
but  also  to  engineers  in  general.  Mr.  Howard  handles  the  question 
in  a  masterly  manner,  and  his  discourse  is  of  an  unusually  pleasing 
character,  imbued  as  it  is  throughout  with  a  fine  sense  of  humor.  The 
Editors  believe  that  their  readers  will  peruse  the  paper  with  both  in- 
terest and  profit,  and  that  they  certainly  will  occasionally  be  amused  by 
some  of  the  author's  illustrative  stories. 

Editors. 


117 


RECORDS. 

A  Talk  for  Undergraduate  Students  of  Engineering. 

By 
E.  E.  Howard,  C.  E. 

Throughout  the  ages  man  has  devoted  much  laborious  effort  to 
the  making  of  records.  Centuries  before  Job  lamented  "Oh  that  my 
works  were  now  written,  oh  that  they  were  printed  in  a  book,  that  they 
were  graven  with  an  iron  pen  and  lead  in  the  rock  forever,"  other  men 
had  been  stirred  with  that  same  universal  desire  and  by  their  efforts 
and  with  their  genius  had  developed  an  art  of  record  making.  Some 
time  ago  an  archaeologist  showed  to  me  a  piece  of  stone  on  which  he 
said  was  the  oldest  known  attempt  of  man  to  write,  and  the  writing  was 
done  regularly,  in  well  denned  characters,  skillfully  cut  on  the  smooth, 
rounded  surface  of  a  vase.  Clearly  it  was  no  first  attempt,  but  was  a 
product  of  skill  and  practice  so  that  one  wondered,  as  he  meditated, 
who  before  had  trained  and  developed  that  skilled  hand.  From  such 
ancient  times  down  to  this  present,  man  has  never  ceased  to  make  rec- 
ords, and  to-day  he  is  making  more  than  ever  before. 

Every  calling,  every  profession,  every  art,  every  science,  every  busi- 
ness, every  industry  of  mankind  has  its  records  and  its  record-makers. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  in  engineering,  a  Science  and  an  Art,  a  Pro- 
fession and  a  Business,  an  Industry  and  an  Inspiration,  there  are  records 
to  be  made  of  many  different  kinds.  When  an  engineer  prepares  a 
design,  estimates,  plans,  and  specifications,  as  a  banker  he  has  used  rec- 
ords of  money,  as  a  merchant  records  of  prices,  as  a  statistician  records 
of  costs,  as  a  transporter  records  of  tariffs,  as  a  producer  records  of 
materials,  as  a  manufacturer  records  of  products,  as  a  lawyer  records 
of  legislation,  as  a  physician  records  of  human  endurance,  as  an  artist 
records  of  fitness,  as  a  historian  records  of  achievements,  and  as  a  poet 
records  of  his  own  imagination. 

To  come  into  contact  with  the  record  making  of  his  chosen  profes- 
sion it  is  not  necessary  for  a  young  engineer  to  wait  till  some. one  calls 
on  him  for  advice  as  to  building  a  bridge,  or  a  dam,  or  a  railroad;  for 
with  his  first  engineering  undertaking  record-making  will  be  required 
of  him.  In  fact,  it  is  usually  because  of  his  record-making  that  the 
engineer-graduate  has  immediate  market  value. 

119 


120  RECORDS. 

Records  are  made  for  information,  to  preserve  and  to  convey 
thoughts;  and  it  is  so  axiomatic  as  to  be  almost  unnecessary  to  say  that 
the  meaning  of  a  record  should  be  clear  and  plain.  If  a  record  conveys 
no  meaning,  it  is  no  true  record;  if  it  conveys  inaccurate  meaning,  it  is 
a  record  worse  than  valueless.  If  a  thought  be  worthy  of  preservation 
and  transmission,  it  were  a  foolish  thing  to  try  to  preserve  it  or  trans- 
mit it  in  some  unintelligible  manner.  Even  when  records  are  for  our- 
selves alone,  it  is  essential  that  they  be  decipherable.  The  first  prin- 
ciple, then  is 

"RECORDS  ARE  FOR  INFORMATION." 

From  marking  numbers  on  stakes  to  the  successive  steps  in  the  solu- 
tion of  complicated  and  abstruse  problems,  the  larger  part  of  the  rec- 
ords you  will  make  in  the  next  five  or  ten  years,  will  be  made,  as  many 
good  things  are,  by  hand.  Your  value  will  be  determined  in  no  small 
part  by  your  skill  at  this  record-making  and  your  skill  will  be  deter- 
mined in  no  small  part  by  your  writing  and  your  figuring.  Can  you 
write?  That  is,  can  you  write  a  page  that  you  are  not  ashamed  of? 
Can  you  write  down  a  column  of  figures  that  you  ought  not  to  be 
ashamed  of? 

Long  ago  you  began  to  learn  to  write,  but  can  you  write?  Writing 
is  good  writing  when  it  is  legible,  be  it  Spenceriah,  vertical,  backhand, 
lean-over,  or  what  not.  Writing  is  bad  writing  when  it  is  not  legible 
be  it  ever  so  beautiful  a  piece  of  pen-and-ink  hand-decoration.  To  be 
sure,  great  and  honorable  men  are  not  always  good  penmen;  but  here 
is  an  immutable  fact  which  you  can  accept  now  or  learn  later  by  ex- 
perience: legible  and  orderly  writing  and  figuring  will  advance  you  in 
the  estimation  of  everyone  with  whom  you  have  to  do  business.  You 
can  verify  that  statement  even  now  by  your  own  observations.  You 
can  see  about  you  men  whose  ability  was  brought  to  notice  by  skill  in 
this  elementary  art,  usually  considered  mastered  and  done  with  long 
before  college  days.  Of  course,  when  you  are  Chief  Engineer  or  Gen- 
eral Manager  with  your  name  engraved  at  the  top  of  the  sheet,  you 
will  have  a  stenographer  and  will  dictate  all  your  letters ;  and  then 
the  merest  scrawl  or  scratch  over  your  title  will  serve  to  reveal  to  admir- 
ing and  criticising  henchmen  your  identity.  But,  between  then  and 
now  there  will  be  a  space  when,  perhaps,  you  will  be  sending  in  monthly 
reports  to  the  Division  Engineer,  and  it  will  not  count  to  your  advan- 
tage if  he  has  to  write  to  ask  you  whether  such  a  mark  is  intended  to 
be  a  three  or  a  five  or  some  part  of  a  mysterious  secret  code.  Writing  in 
itself  does  not  make  a  man  or  an  engineer;  its  character  is  no  conclu- 
sive proof  of  a  man's  characteristics.  Some  of  the  best  looking  esti- 


HOWARD.  121 

mates  I  ever  saw  contained  the  most  errors;  sometimes  the  most  legible 
writing  has  the  largest  number  of  misspelled  words;  but  if  you  are 
going  to  take  advantage  of  everything  for  the  struggle  before  you,  do 
not  ignore  this  simple  but  important  factor.  You  may  have  read  re- 
cently this  shrewd  advice:  "Appearances  are  deceitful,  but  so  long  as 
they  are,  there  is  nothing  like  having  them  deceive  for  us  instead  of 
against  us.  A  dirty  shirt  may  hide  a  pure  heart,  but  the  chances  are 
against  its  covering  a  clean  skin."  Orderly  neatness  in  figuring  and 
writing  is  an  effective,  if  modest,  recommendation.  Some  of  the  time 
spent  in  studying  what  Professor  Bates  characterizes  as  "language 
which,  while  it  is  English,  is  yet  hardly  more  intelligible  to  the  students 
than  would  be  Choctaw  or  the  speech  of  Borrioboola  Gha"  might  be 
profitably  employed  in  learning  to  write  the  language  one  is  going  to 
use.  And  by  "write"  I  do  not  mean  here  any  sort  of  literary  composi- 
tion ;  but  merely  "the  mechanical  act  of  tracing  or  inscribing  symbols 
or  ideographs."  The  written  alphabet  has  been  declared  to  be  the 
greatest  and  most  useful  of  all  human  inventions.  If  it  is  so,  and  as  it 
is  quite  unprotected  by  patents,  does  it  not  seem  strange  that  so  many  of 
us  utilize  this  remarkable  invention  in  such  an  unworkmanlike  manner? 
Having,  then,  a  serviceable,  legible  system  of  characters  or  sym- 
bols, in  order  to  make  a  record  these  characters  must  be  arranged  into 
accepted  forms  for  conveyance  of  ideas.  A  second  axiomatic  concept 
of  Record  Making  is,  therefore, 

"SYSTEMATIC  ARRANGEMENT." 

An  orderly  allotment,  a  systematic  arrangement  of  symbols,  of 
characters,  of  words,  of  terms,  of  every  detail  of  a  record  is  essential 
to  make  that  record  complete.  It  cannot  be  disputed  that  accuracy  is 
enhanced  by  symmetrical,  methodical  apportionment  and  classification 
of  data ;  and  that  'the  recording  of  the  complete,  precise,  exact  truth  in 
some  disorderly,  chaotic,  and  confused  way  may  result  in  error  as  great 
as  that  arising  from  erroneous  information.  To  struggle  through  a 
perplexing  labryinth  of  uncorrelated  meanderings  of  truth,  a  maze  of 
indiscriminately  muddled  facts,  on  a  disentangling  expedition  is  as  try- 
ing to  the  temper  as  to  discover  that  extensive  calculations  and  careful 
deductions  must  all  be  discarded  because  of  incorrect  statements  of  pre- 
liminary data.  For  instance,  I  recall  a  man,  a  graduate  of  a  reputable 
engineering  school,  who  was  instructed  to  keep  a  force  account  (the 
daily  working  time  of  a  dozen  laborers)  in  order  to  check  the  time-book 
supposed  to  be  kept  by  an  illiterate  foreman.  Now  the  foreman,  in  spite 
of  his  honest  attempts,  got  his  time-book  so  badly  mixed  that  it  was 
impossible  to  tell  what  was  due  the  men  at  the  end  of  a  week's  time, 


122  RECORDS. 

and  the  engineer,  with  a  sheepskin  passport  from  a  considerate  Facul- 
ty, was  called  on  for  his  records;  but,  sorrowful  to  relate,  they  were 
in  such  condition  that  he  himself  could  not  discover  how  much  was 
due  to  each  man,  or  indeed  with  accuracy,  to  any  man.  Pages  of  figures, 
but  no  information;  words,  but  no  records!  And  so,  at  such  a  simple 
examination  he  failed,  and  he  found  that  it  wasn't  just  something  to 
be  "made  up  next  term,"  hardly  worth  mention,  for  he  had  sacrificed 
the  confidence  placed  in  his  ability  to  do  anything  well ;  and  soon  another 
took  his  place. 

You  will  be  forgiven  for  not  knowing  how  to  run  the  job  your 
boss  has,  but  lapses  in  the  little  things  trusted  to  you  will  not  be 
overlooked  so  easily.  In  the  examinations  to  which  you  are  coming, 
most  of  the  questions  will  be  very  simple  ones;  but  you  will  have  to 
pass  them  every  day. 

Of  all  the  deplorable,  unsystematic  record-making  habits,  none  is 
worse  than  that  of  writing  desultory  notes  on  loose  sheets.  Records 
should  be  kept  in  books,  or  else  bound  into  books  or  some  workable  sub- 
stitute therefor.  In  some  of  the  largest  engineering  offices  in  this 
country  it  is  required  that  every  figure  be  put  down  in  a  note  book, 
that  every  arithmetical  operation  be  shown,  so  they  can  all  be  found 
when  the  inevitable  checking  up  comes.  Too  often  it  happens  if  notes 
are  made  on  nondescript  sheets,  that  they  are  misplaced  or  lost  even 
before  they  are  old,  and  one  is  sometimes  forced  to  the  undignified  and 
annoying  attitude  of  looking  for  them  in  the  waste  basket.  Nothing  is 
more  irritatingly  imbecile  than  to  swoop  deliriously  on  this  scrap  of 
paper  or  that  scrap  of  paper  in  the  sudden  anxious  hope  that  it  may 
perchance  bear  certain  information  once  recorded  on  a  similar  frag- 
ment. "There  may  have  been  times  in  human  history  when  the  action 
of  the  Turk  who  picks  up  and  preserves  every  stray  piece  of  inscribed 
paper,  'because  it  might  contain  the  name  of  Allah'  has  been  highly 
reasonable."  But  in  these  times  a  similar  behavior  is  wholly  uncalled 
for  even  in  literary  fields,  while  in  engineering  records  it  is  an  indiction 
of  a  lamentable  lack  of  that  system  and  order  which  throughout  en- 
gineering is  a  prime  requisite. 

You  have  read  Alexander  Pope's  observation  that  "Order  is  Heav- 
en's First  Law,"  and  you  may  recall  that  one  St.  John  who  had  a 
heavenly  vision,  received  as  his  first  command  a  direction  to  make  a 
record,  a  record  of  some  permanancy — "What  thou  seest  write  in  a  book." 
As  you  start  out  in  your  engineering  work  remember  St.  John  and 
Pope — "What  thou  seest  write  in  a  book," — "Order  is  Heaven's  First 
Law." 


HOWARD.  123 

It  is  not  necessary  to  say  to  engineers  that  their  records  must  be 
solely  of  that  which  is  true.  Untrue  records  may  be  of  service  in  other 
lines,  but  in  engineering  they  would  fail  because  of  their  falsity.  An 
eminent  jurist  who  had  broad  opportunity  for  observation  of  many  men 
on  the  witness  stand,  gave  his  opinion  that  engineers  as  a  class  are  the 
most  accurately  truthful  men  in  the  world.  You  are  not  dealing  with 
man-made  laws,  you  can't  evade  the  law  of  gravitation;  force  and  in- 
ertia are  not  matters  of  opinion ;  and  experience  will  permeate  you 
with  a  higher  regard  for  truth  than  ever  precept  could. 

Records  of  value  should  be  of  some  permanency,  and  books  in- 
stead of  loose  sheets  are  an  advance  toward  that  desideratum.  Don't 
go  around  leaving  "foot  prints  on  the  sands"  for  your  engineering 
records.  Your  employer  won't  see  much  that  is  "sublime"  about  records 
so  easily  washed  away.  There  is  a  story  told  of  a  rodman  who  was 
sent  out  to  establish  a  bench  mark  in  a  railroad  yard,  who  returned, 
advising  that  he  had  located  it  on  the  draw  head  of  a  box  car.  He 
further  explained  to  the  thunderous  silence  which  greeted  him,  that  he 
had  carefully  recorded  the  number  and  initial  of  the  car,  and  could 
find  it  at  any  time. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  your  first  records  will  be  made  in  ordi- 
nary "field  books"  and  properly  will  follow  the  usually  prescribed 
standard  form.  But  even  such  standard  forms  are  sometimes  so  ar- 
ranged and  filled  in  that  no  one,  not  even  the  maker,  after  a  time,  can 
determine  the  meaning  of  the  notes. 

The  field  notes  of  a  survey,  of  a  pile  driving  outfit,  of  a  force 
account,  of  anything,  ought  to  contain  all  the  information  at  hand  in 
some  sensible  arrangement,  so  that  some  one  else  can  discover  what  was 
done.  This  constant  reiteration  of  one  idea  may  seem  to  you  a  foolish 
repetition,  but  when  you  have  had  to  sit  and  tear  your  hair  in  an  effort 
to  determine  whether  angles  were  turned  to  right  or  to  left,  or  whether 
such  a  line  is  center  line  of  track  or  center  line  of  structure,  or  some 
equally  provoking  simple  thing,  you  will  acknowledge  the  correctness 
of  this  oft-repeated  requirement.  Surprising  it  is  that  the  special  and 
limited  notes  are  nearly  always  included,  while  the  simple  essentials 
are  omitted. 

Somewhere  in  the  book  the  proper  general  explanation  should  be 
given.  For  instance,  a  pile  recorder  may  proceed  systematically  to  call 
the  piles  in  the  bents  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4,  and  5,  and  that  much  may  be  clear 
in  the  notes ;  while  you  may  search  in  vain  to  discover  whether  he  counted 
from  north,  south,  .east,  or  west.  I  have  looked  over  old  note  books 
whose  sole  distinguishing  title  was  "Line  B" ;  no  date,  no  name,  nothing 
to  indicate  place  or  purpose. 


124  RECORDS. 

The  records  made  by  all  the  different  men  connected  with  one  en- 
terprise should  fit  together  to  form  a  connected  whole,  and  definite  ex- 
planations are  needed  that  there  may  be  uniformity  of  arrangement  of 
similar  data.  An  example  of  lucid,  explicit  instructions  of  this  char- 
acter is  to  be  found  in  Molitor  and  Beard's  "Manual  for  Resident  En- 
gineers/' a  book  which  the  novice  will  find  to  be  an  excellent  basis  of 
practical  work,  giving,  as  it  does,  clear  ideas  of  actual  duties  and  how 
to  perform  them,  and  in  which  the  experienced  engineer  will  discover 
many  valuable  hints  and  suggestions.  Excepting  that  portion  of  the 
book  treating  of  Specifications,  you  will  find  that  one-sixth  of  the  num- 
bered paragraphs,  covering  over  one-third  of  the  whole  book,  are  devoted 
to  the  duties  of  resident  engineers  with  respect  to  records.  You  will  no- 
tice that  the  details  of  these  records,  the  form  and  size,  the  titling  and 
numbering,  the  methods  of  report,  are  all  carefully  specified. 

Field  notes  should  be  comprehensive  and  complete.  In  making 
them  put  down  everything  you  think  will  be  needed  and  then  all 
the  things  you  are  sure  you  will  remember.  Of  course,  the  engineer 
is  busy  (like  the  Habitant  farmer — "No  sooner  one  job's  finish  dan  he 
got  two  t'ousan  more"),  and  the  time  for  note  making  is  limited,  so  that 
while  notes  must  be  comprehensive  they  should  be  concise  and  brief. 
It  is  far  better  to  err  by  making  notes  too  plentiful  than  to  have  omis- 
sions. Attempt  to  come  to  the  point  as  clearly  as  possible,  but  be  sure 
everything  is  included.  Two  words  need  not  be  used  where  one  would 
serve,  but  that  one  should  not  be  omitted. 

Don't  be  so  brilliantly  brief  as  was  an  engineer  who  was  directed 
to  check  the  material  for  a  half-through  girder  span  on  a  couple  of 
cars,  and  who,  instead  of  giving  a  memorandum  like  this — 1G1,  1G2, 
2FB1,  3FB2,  etc.,  reported  with  much  satisfaction  "there  are  six  big 
pieces  and  a  lot  of  little  pieces" !  And  he  had  told  us  he  fully  understood 
checking  steel  for  shipment! 

Make  your  notes  thorough,  make  them  brief  if  you  can,  but  make 
them  thorough  anyway.  The  difficulty  in  accomplishing  this  was  once 
forcibly  impressed  upon  me  when  on  a  trip  inspecting  old  bridges  with 
a  prominent  engineer.  We  both  made  notes  and  he  always  finished  his 
sooner  than  I.  Nevertheless,  when  the  accounting  came  and  the  notes 
were  made  into  a  report,  mine  were  decidedly  lacking  and  his  contained 
information  I  had  instinctively  left  to  memory — to  fallible  memory. 
Sometimes  I  had  even  failed  to  state  the  number  of  spans,  or  the  stream 
name,  or  the  location  number,  or  something  else  equally  simple.  Field 
notes  should  be  comprehensive,  but  comprehensive  with  discrimination. 

Perhaps  following  the  work  of  making  notes  in  prescribed  forms' 
will  come  the  writing  of  letters  and  reports.  While  letter  writing  is  not 


HOWARD.  125 

mentioned  in  many  treatises  on  engineering,  it  still  becomes  an  import- 
ant part  of  professional  work.  When  you  come  to  direct  others  in  their 
work,  you  will  do  so  largely  by  letter;  and  it  will  then  be  essential 
that  you  be  able  to  write  a  letter  which  will  really  convey  your  ideas  to 
its  recipient.  Some  day  you  will  be  writing  specifications  for  construc- 
tions to  be  read  by  men  of  very  different  abilities,  of  varying  views,  of 
complex  relations,  and  it  will  be  essential  that  your  thought  be  conveyed 
accurately  to  each  one. 

Of  course,  the  mention  of  writing  simple  sentences  that  clearly 
express  one  meaning  without  ambiguity,  is  smiled  upon  as  being  too 
elementary  a  detail  for  college  men.  Surely  "grammar,"  "composition," 
"rhetoric,"  "literature"  are  household  words ;  but  if  you  were  to  make  a 
practice  of  examining  letters  written  by  college  graduates,  you  would 
conclude  that  "grammar"  was  a  theory  long  ago  discarded,  that  "com- 
position" was  not  for  personal  application,  and  that  "rhetoric"  and 
"literature"  were  studied  for  "credits,"  not  for  use. 

We  agreed  just  now  that  poor  penmanship  is  not  necessarily  an 
evidence  of  lack  of  culture;  but  this  fact  is  sure — although  a  man  may 
not  disclose  his  character  by  his  penmanship,  he  surely  will  betray  his 
training  by  his  use  and  arrangement  of  words  and  sentences.  You  ex- 
pect to  impress  your  employer  and  later  your  clients  as  an  educated, 
scholarly  man;  can  you,  or  do  you  even  try,  to  write  scholarly  letters 
in  simple  sentences  properly  paragraphed?  We  commend  or  condemn 
authors  by  what  they  have  written,  and  so  will  business  men  judge  us 
by  what  we  write  and  how  we  write  it. 

Specifications  and  reports  may  not  concern  you  soon,  but  at  the 
very  outset  of  your  professional  career  you  will  surely  have  occasion  to 
write  letters.  A  sloppy,  slovenly,  confusing,  ambiguous  letter  produces 
the  same  effect  as  a  display  of  dirty  hands,  unkept  attire,  and  general 
personal  untidiness.  Your  professors  have  told  you  this  in  substance, 
*  and  have  corrected  your  English ;  and  you  have  considered  their  opinions 
to  be  due  merely  to  their  academic  idiosyncrasies;  but  let  me  assure 
you  that  they  have  overlooked  your  lapses  far  more  readily  than  will 
your  business  critics. 

A  word  might  be  said  regarding  letters  of  application  for  positions. 
Perhaps  you  may  sometime  need  to  write  one.  You  will  then  be  judged 
by  your  letter,  and  it  therefore  deserves  serious  effort.  Make  it  brief. 
Make  it  neat.  If  practicable,  make  it  cover  only  one  page.  Spell  the 
man's  name  correctly.  Secure  his  exact  title  and  address  and  use 
them.  Give  tersely  enough  information  to  enable  him  to  judge  the 
product  you  are  advertising;  at  least  so  he  will  not  have  to  write  for 
preliminary  data.  Don't  tell  him  you  have  had  charge  of* every  piece 


126  RECORDS. 

of  work  you  happened  to  be  engaged  upon,  for  he  may  know  the  man 
who  really  was  in  charge,  and,  in  consequence,  might  have  to  start  in 
by  disbelieving  you.  And  don't,  as  did  one  University  man  in  a  letter 
of  application  I  have  seen,  don't  spell  "engineer"  with  a  "j." 

The  recording  of  ideas  by  drawing  is,  to  me  at  least,  far  more  in- 
teresting that  to  put  them  down  in  writing.  To  originate  a  detail  or 
combination  of  details  and  to  inscribe  on  the  drawing  board  your  plan 
and  your  details  so  as  to  carry  out  your  scheme  is  a  most  engrossing 
occupation.  Many  students,  not  understanding  that  drawing  is  a  means 
for  expressing  ideas  and  that  its  character  will  depend  on  the  ideas, 
decry  the  work  of  drafting.  Truly  a  man  working  only  with  mechanical 
precision  in  stolid  vacancy  of  mind,  making  letters  on  a  map,  or  tracing 
some  other  man's  conceptions,  is  limited  in  scope,  and  his  work  is 
drudgery;  but  no  work  can  be  of  more  absorbing  interest  than  that  of 
a  designing  draftsman  who  is  constantly  making  inventions  and  record- 
ing them  on  paper.  Pictured  in  his  mind  is  a  complete  structure,  and 
piece  by  piece  he  mentally  puts  it  together,  and  plans  and  dictates  how 
others  shall  actually  put  it  together.  Here,  too,  the  same  axiomatic, 
simple  principles  for  records  are  applicable.  The  plan  is  made  to  con- 
vey a  meaning. 

Once  I  made  a  plan  for  a  canal  drainage  gate  that  was  to  be  better 
than  anything  on  the  whole  of  a  large  rice  irrigation  plant.  Facilities 
for  drafting  were  somewhat  lacking,  and  the  drawing  was  crowded  on 
one  small  sheet;  but  to  my  mind  that  gate,  and  especially  its  manifold 
advantages,  showed  forth  with  unmistakable  clearness.  You  can  sympa- 
thetically imagine  my  indignation  and  the  consequent  commotion  when  I 
found  my  beautiful  gate  was  being  made  as  wide  as  it  was  to  have 
been  high,  and  the  flaring  wing  wall  had  become  a  slide-way  for  the 
water  to  run  over.  The  foreman  produced  the  plan  and  I  explained. 
When  he  grasped  the  idea  he  recognized  its  efficiency.  But  he  said  "that' 
plan  doesn't  show  me  anything  like  that."  And  I  then  began  to 
appreciate  the  principle  that  a  plan  should  be  so  drawn  as  to  appeal  to 
the  user,  not  to  the  maker. 

Vast  numbers  of  engineering  records  are  made  only  by  drawings, 
and  the  engineers  must  be  able  both  to  make  them  and  to  understand 
them.  Skill  in  making  drawings  is  like  skill  in  writing  and  figuring. 
Don't  possess  yourself  with  the  idea  that  if  you  are  unable  to  make 
a  clear  drawing,  neatly  lettered,  it  will  be  accepted  as  evidence  that  you 
are  meant  for  greater  things.  You  are  more  likely  to  succeed  to  other 
positions  through  skillful  drawing.  And  as  drawing  is  the  natural  way 
and  the  only  way  for  recording  much  engineering  thought,  you  ought 


HOWARD.  127 

to  be  able  to  draw  well  if  you  expect  your  thoughts  to  be  clearly  under- 
stood and  to  prevail. 

Even  in  those  cases  where  a  drawing  is  for  the  use  of  the  makef 
alone,  it  should  be  complete  and  definite.  To  stare  confused  at  your  own 
drawing  and  not  find  enough  familiar  lines  to  know  what  it  is  all  about 
will  quickly  produce  a  genuine  foolish  feeling.  Some  draftsmen  will 
make  a  large  scale  layout  for  a  riveted  joint  in  such  a  way  that  even  the 
next  day  it  is  of  no  use  to  them,  and  they  will  have  to  make  it  over 
again,  with  additional  expenditure  of  energy,  or  else  get  rivets  on 
chance  dots,  and  center  lines  for  bearing  lines,  and  wrong  angles,  and 
incorrect  scales,  and  other  numberless  errors. 

If  you  really  intend  to  present  your  idea  so  that  somebody  else 
may  carry  it  out,  don't  credit  him  with  omniscience,  or  skill  in  mental 
telepathy,  or  a  mind  that  moves  in  your  individual  track.  Either  give 
every  detail  of  everything  you  propose,  or  else  expect  surprises  as  the 
doer  applies  his  own  ideas  and  perhaps  achieves  the  required  end  in  a 
manner  entirely  at  variance  with  your  own  veiled,  stealthy,  and  secret 
intentions.  If  you  show  a  rivet  floating  around  promiscuously  in  an 
area  of  possibilities,  don't  be  astonished  when  it  is  put  in  some  other  than 
the  exact  spot  you  had  in  mind.  Don't  leave  a  space  blank,  and  think 
that  anybody  ought  to  know  that  was  "three  inches." 

The  plan  maker  is  responsible  for  the  mutual  correlation  of  the 
various  parts,  and  he  must  give  careful  attention  thereto.  Usually  in 
an  extensive  work,  contractors  or  mechanics  have  plans  only  of  their 
particular  share,  and  they  build  in  accordance  therewith,  trust- 
ing entirely  to  the  detailer  that  their  portion  will  fit  with  the  work 
of  the  other  builders.  Especially  when  a  change  is  made  in  one  draw- 
ing or  in  one  detail,  it  should  be  traced  throughout  all  of  the  parts  that 
may  be  affected  and  on  every  sheet  of  the  entire  set  of  drawings.  For 
instance,  I  have  set  anchor  bolts  according  to  substructure  drawings 
only  to  find  later  that  the  steel  work  would  not  fit,  and  then  learned  that 
changes  had  been  made  in  the  steel  plans  and  had  not  been  properly 
carried  through  to  the  substucture  drawings. 

If  a  drawing  be  for  construction  use,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
however  easy  it  may  be  in  the  drawing  room  to  spread  three  or  four 
sheets  out  on  a  desk  and  compare  from  one  to  another  in  order  to 
find  one  lonesome  dimension,  it  is  entirely  a  different  thing  when  you 
are  shoe  deep  in  mud  with  the  rain  dripping  on  your  print,  or  when 
your  fingers  are  so  cold  that  they  can  hardly  push  a  pencil,  or  perhaps 
when  the  tropic  sun  is  beating  on  the  back  of  your  neck  and  one  hand 
is  busy  fighting  off  mosquitoes,  when  your  dearest  wish  is  for  a  drink 
of  cool  water  without  any  mud  in  it,  and  when  the  contractor  is  being 


128  RECORDS. 

delayed  and  is  roaring  about  for  immediate  instructions,  and  for  points, 
and  for  explanations.  Give  a  thought  for  the  man  who  is  to  try  to  fol- 
low out  the  plan,  and  arrange  the  data  as  nearly  as  may  be  for  his  ad- 
vantage and  convenience. 

Aside  from  ordinary  mistakes  and  avoidable  errors,  the  principal 
deficiencies  of  drawings  as  records  are  largely  due  to  a  lack  of  con- 
ception on  the  part  of  the  maker  as  to  how  the  user  will  perform  the 
work.  This  suggests  the  natural  conclusion  that  only  that  man  who  has 
done  the  class  of  work  involved  can  really  properly  prepare  a  plan. 
While  this  is  not  generally  practicable,  it  is  always  possible  for  the 
designer  or  detailer  to  have  clearly  in  mind  just  how  he  would  take  each 
step  if  he  were  to  follow  the  plan  and  build  thereto.  Your  structures 
cannot  spring  into  existence  complete  and  perfect  from  your  Jove-like 
brow,  but  must  be  put  together  piece  by  piece.  It  is  not  uncommon 
to  find  in  steel-work  plans  instances  of  members  which  must  first  be 
taken  apart  before  they  can  be  put  in  place,  and  rivets  which  no  earthly 
riveting  tool  could  possibly  drive.  Many  times  I  have  had  to  make  over 
plans  for  substructure,  supposedly  complete,  plentifully  supplied  with 
dimensions,  but  yet  lacking  nearly  every  dimension  required  for  staking 
out  the  work  on  the  ground.  The  maker  of  such  plans  should  prepare  his 
drawings  with  the  thought  that  he  might  be  called  on  to  stake  out  the 
work,  and  to  direct  the  carpenters  in  their  form-building  and  the  other 
mechanics  in  their  various  efforts. 

A  carefully  made  plan  is  certain  to  save  time  and  labor  by  having 
the  thinking  done  at  the  outset  once  for  all.  But  the  information  must 
be  so  arranged  that  a  meaning,  one  meaning,  the  intended  meaning,  is 
made  clear  to  the  user.  Above  all,  for  plans  to  convey  information 
there  must  be  information  to  start  with. 

Final  records  of  completed  works  are  of  special  value  both  for 
private  information  and  for  public  reference;  and  they  aid  greatly  in 
the  advancement  of  the  engineering  profession.  Some  times  anxiety  to 
stop  expense  immediately  on  the  cessation  of  the  construction  causes 
records  to  be  left  in  an  unfinished  condition — a  most  expensive  economy. 
Notes  should  be  final,  completed,  indexed,  and  arranged  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  making.  For  instance,  it  may  become  of  importance  to  knovy 
quickly  just  how  deep  the  piles  of  a  trestle  were  driven,  or  what  load 
a  certain  floor  was  designed  to  carry,  or  what  pressure  per  square 
foot  was  allowed  on  a  certain  material,  or  even  who  inspected  certain 
work.  All  too  frequently  such  data  are  entirely  neglected.  Recently 
in  an  important  matter  none  of  the  city  officials  were  able  to  find  in  their 
records  any  definite  information  concerning  the  depths  of  piers  in  a  city 
bridge  built  only  a  few  years  previously.  The  remembrance  of  some 


HOWARD.  129 

workmen  was  their  most  reliable  record.  Such  conditions  are  prevalent 
— they  are  not  exceptions ;  and  engineers  are  to  be  blamed  for  such  folly. 
When  a  work  is  completed  it  is  best  to  make  a  new  drawing  showing 
the  structure  as  actually  built;  or  if  this  be  considered  extravagant,  a 
special  set  of  blue  prints  should  be  marked  in  red  ink  "as  built"  with 
each  altered  dimension  corrected.  Such  drawings  or  prints  should  be 
dated  and  properly  filed  with  a  report  or  general  statement  concerning 
the  work. 

Aside  from  the  personal  or  local  value  of  a  record  of  completed 
work,  there  is  a  value  to  the  profession  at  large.  We  advance  on  former 
accomplishments:  the  best  way  to  forecast  the  future  is  to  examine  the 
past.  To  this  end  it  is  essential  that  records  be  made  of  the  design  and 
construction  of  completed  works  and  that  their  plans  be  available  for 
study  and  comparison.  This  is  being  done  by  the  technical  press  and 
in  the  publications  of  engineering  societies.  No  two  pieces  of  engineer- 
ing construction  are  exactly  alike;  the  engineer  must  constantly,  with 
versatility  and  judgment,  adapt  old  ideas  to  new  conditions;  and  the 
clearness  with  which  new  conditions  are  recognized  and  the  aptness  with 
which  the  old  ideas  are  applied  measure  the  ability  of  the  engineer.  The 
fundamental  laws  of  machines  are  known  to  every  man,  or  can  be  learn- 
ed with  ordinary  diligence ;  but  the  application  of  the  principles  resulting 
in  the  complicated  mechanisms  of  today  demands  laborious  effort,  vigi- 
lant patience,  and  unceasing  enthusiasm.  Never  again  should  it  be  said 
that  there  are  "lost  arts,"  never  more  should  mankind  travel  again  and 
again  the  same  slow  paths  of  the  development  of  the  arts.  Future  gen- 
erations should  surpass  us  by  knowing  both  what  we  have  done  and  how 
it  was  accomplished. 

There  is  not  a  single  piece  of  important  engineering  work  done  any- 
where, concerning  which  it  would  not  be  advantageous  to  some  one  to 
know  exactly  how  it  was  performed.  The  simplest  thing  to  those  who 
know  is  yet  as  abstruse  as  matters  most  profound  to  those  who  know  it 
not.  An  engineer  once  told  me  that  he  had  an  extensive  but  unsuccess- 
ful search  made  in  one  of  the  best  engineering  libraries  in  this  country,, 
in  order  to  find  a  description  of  how  to  put  up  an  ordinary  frame  bent 
trestle — a  simple  enough  thing,  surely,  for  those  who  know. 

The  younger  members  of  the  profession  rightly  expect  that  those 
of  mature  experience  should  devote  some  time  and  effort  to  a  record  of 
their  accomplishments  and  failures  for  the  general  good,  in  order  that 
each  success,  no  matter  by  whom  accomplished,  may  ultimately  lead  to 
a  greater.  And  while  the  young  engineer  may  not  assume  to  instruct 
those  superior  in  wisdom  and  experience,  he  may  still  have  a  share  in 
such  records,  if  only  by  contributing  statements  of  facts  and  tabulations 


130  RECORDS. 

of  data.  And  if  no  one  other  than  himself  ever  examines  his  final 
records,  they  yet  have  a  genuine  value. 

In  order  to  give  you  a  better  appreciation  of  the  variety  of  rec- 
ords encountered  in  engineering  work,  I  shall  take  as  an  example  a 
contract  covering  the  construction  of  a  number  of  bridges  for  a  rail- 
road in  Mexico,  which  was  of  the  cost-plus-percentage  variety,  and  en- 
deavor to  trace  through  the  various  records  required. 

******  **** 

You  thus  see  that  the  Engineers  were  concerned  not  only  with 
plans,  specifications,  surveys,  field  notes,  inspection  reports,  and  estimates, 
but  with  cost-keeping,  accounting,  money  exchange,  invoicing,  bills 
of  lading,  bookkeeping,  and  all  the  records  required  for  the  conduct 
of  business.  You  will  have  noticed  too,  the  magnitude  of  the  labor  in- 
volved in  reducing  these  records  and  in  classifying  results  for  proper 
comparison.  Such  reduction  is  common  in  records  of  many  kinds  and 
is  sometimes  carried  to  extreme  refinement.  I  have  heard  of  a  mine 
superintendent  who  was  such  an  enthusiast  for  comparing  averages  that 
he  was  reported  to  compute  each  day  the  average  daily  car  number  of 
the  cars  loaded  at  the  mine. 

A  somewhat  just  criticism  of  the  training  of  our  engineering 
schools  is  made  in  that,  being  usually  prematurely  vocational,  it  fails  to 
educate.  Another  criticism  more  pointed,  and  in  some  respects  not  wholly 
unjust,  is  that,  although  such  engineering  training  is  principally  voca- 
tional, it  fails  to  train. 

Now,  frankly,  you  all  expect  to  sell  something.  That  something 
is  your  services.  Some  day  it  may  be  your  opinion,  or  your  judgment; 
but  your  opinion  is  not  now  of  much  value,  and  you  will  find  it  hard 
to  realize  cash  on  your  judgment.  Your  services  you  perform  with 
hand  and  brain,  and  what  you  do  with  your  brain  is  expressed  with  your 
hands.  So  with  your  training  you  should  try  to  train  your  hands. 

Suppose  now,  everyone  of  you  were  to  write  a  letter  to  my  firm 
requesting  employment.  You  would  each  receive  an  answer  that  your 
letter  had  been  placed  on  file.  Do  not  cherish  the  belief  that  "on  file" 
means  "lost."  Some  day  a  man  or  two  is  needed  and  the  file  is  examined. 
So  far  as  we  know,  you  are  all  alike,  all  graduates  this  year  of  an  en- 
gineering school  of  repute,  about  the  same  age,  of  about  equal  exper- 
ience. Now  who  do  you  suppose  will  get  the  job?  The  letters  are 
all  examined  and  one  by  one  discarded,  this  one  because  it  is  careless, 
that  one  because  it  is  in  such  bad  writing  that  evidently  the  writer  will 
not  be  able  to  make  a  neat  drawing,  another  one  for  having  gross  mis- 
takes in  spelling,  still  another  because  it  shows  that  the  writer  has  ab- 
solutely no  knowledge  of  how  a  business  letter  should  be  phrased;  so 


HOWARD.  131 

finally  the  position  is  offered  to  the  writer  of  the  cleanest,  neatest,  most 
careful  letter.  And  every  employer  of  engineers  in  the  country  follows 
more  or  less  the  same  plan,  perhaps  not  consciously,  but  inevitably,  be- 
cause the  only  thing  he  has  to  gauge  you  by  is  that  letter. 

Now  suppose  you  are  all  working  side  by  side  in  a  drafting  room, 
and  some  special  work  comes  up.  Who  do  you  suppose  will  be  chosen  to 
do  it  and  so  begin  to  raise  himself  from  the  general  level?  You  know: 
it  will  be  the  man  who  is  doing  the  neatest,  clearest,  most  accurate  work 
with  his  drawing  instruments.  Suppose  you  wanted  to  choose  one  out 
of  ten  men,  otherwise  equal,  to  advance  to  the  designing  department, 
which  one  would  you  select?  Assuredly  you  would  take  the  man  who 
could  make  the  neatest,  most  orderly  estimates,  whose  writing  was  leg- 
ible, and  whose  figures  were  plain.  Suppose  you  were  all  working  in 
equal  positions  in  a  field  corps  turning  in  notes  every  day,  and  one 
man  was  to  be  selected  for  a  better  position.  Do  you  believe  it  would 
be  the  man  whose  notes  are  always  smudged  and  dirty  and  irregular 
and  inaccurate?  Frankly  now,  other  things  being  equal,  who  will  get 
the  raise?  Certainly,  there  are  other  things,  other  characteristics,  that 
will  be  the  determining  factors  later,  but  for  your  immediate  future 
nothing  is  more  important  than  neatness.  Neatness  is  evidence  of  care- 
fulness, and  carefulness  of  accuracy.  By  the  time  you  have  to 
design  a  truss  or  an  engine,  you  will  have  forgotten  all  you  know  about 
it  to-day,  and  will  have  to  take  up  your  books  and  study  and  really 
learn  it,  but  what  you  are  unable  to  do  in  writing  and  figuring  will  be 
noticed  now. 

You  may  be  able  to  advance  rapidly  in  spite  of  your  illegible  writ- 
ing and  careless  drawing  and  dirty  notebooks,  and  you  may  be  con- 
fident in  assurance  that  you  will;  but,  do  not  forget  that  you  will  be 
pulling  a  heavy  drag  all  the  time.  I  could  show  you  men  who  never 
have  taken  the  positions  they  deserve  solely  because  of  that  drawback. 

When  you  get  something  for  nothing,  usually  you  have  paid  full 
value.  Good  records  do  not  merely  occur.  Time  and  effort  are  the 
price — strenuous,  sustained,  painstaking,  monotonous  effort.  But  the 
price  will  not  be  paid  in  vain. 

An  engineering  student,  therefore,  should  not  only  aim  to  learn 
how  to  conduct  a  survey,  how  to  design  a  structure,  or  how  to  inspect 
a  material,  but  he  must  also  learn  how  to  make  records,  intelligible  rec- 
ords of  each  effort. 

Recapitulating, 

Records  are  for  Information. 

They  should  be 

Legible,  Concise,  and  Comprehensive. 


132  RECORDS. 

to  which  end  there  should  be 

Skillfully  Made  Symbols, 

Orderly,  Systematic  Arrangement,  and 

Definite  Ideas  of  Information  Desired. 

They  should  be 

Permanent,  Accurate,  and  Intelligible. 

Memory  is  Fallible,  Paper  is  Cheap. 

Books  Were  Invented  to  Keep  Together  Loose  Sheets. 

A  Record  Correct  Once  is  Correct  Forever. 

Take  up  your  record-making  till  in  time  you  yourselves  will  add 
to  those  "epics  of  engineers,  perhaps  unsung  in  words,  but  being  writ- 
ten in  huge  characters  on  the  face  of  this  planet." 

You  have  ideals,  cherish  them;  you  have  ambitions,  follow  them; 
you  have  determined  to  make  your  mark  in  the  world;  make  it.  But 
when  you  do  make  that  mark,  in  the  name  of  all  good  records,  make  it 
so  clear  and  so  plain  that  other  folks  shall  know,  beyond  the  peradven- 
ture  of  a  doubt,  exactly  what  it  stands  for ! 


SOME  EDUCATIONAL  PROBLEMS  IN  A  LARGE 
UNIVERSITY. 

By 
Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff . 

This  paper  was  written  as  an  address  to  alumni  and  not  for  stu- 
dents. The  main  reason  why  it  is  offered  for  perusal  to  entering  fresh- 
men is  that  they  may  understand  some  of  the  problems  which  the 
Faculty  has  to  solve  and  to  enable  them  to  sympathize  with  it  in  the 
difficulties  with  which  it  continually  has  to  contend.  Another  reason 
for  presenting  this  address  to  freshmen  is  that  it  treats  of  the  emotional 
part 'of  college  life — an  aspect  which  is  not  generally  recognized  by 
either  instructors  or  students — at  least  not  with  sufficient  seriousness. 

The  ethical  features  of  this  paper  and  of  the  other  two  papers  by 
Prof.  Karapetoff  given  in  this  book  are  earnestly  recommended  for  the 
student's  consideration  and  guidance.  It  would  be  well  were  there  in 
the  engineering  profession  more  of  its  representatives  who,  like  Prof. 
Karapetoff,  do  not  hesitate  to  treat  in  print  openly  and  fearlessly  the 
moral  and  ethical  questions  that  are  so  important  to  both  students  of 
engineering  and  practicing  engineers. 

Editors. 


133 


SOME  EDUCATIONAL  PROBLEMS  IN  A  LARGE 
UNIVERSITY.* 

By 
Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff. 

The  ultimate  end  of  education  is  to  develop  the  latent  possibilities 
of  the  individual,  so  as  to  bring  them  into  better  adjustment  with  his 
environment,  and  to  fit  him  for  realizing  the  highest  ideals  of  the  times. 
The  education  of  the  soul  comprises  that  of  the  intellect,  emotions,  and 
the  will.  This  gives  a  natural  classification  of  the  problem  confronting 
our  educators. 

I.  Intellectual  Side  of  University  Life— The  great  problem  is 
"what  to  teach,"  and  "how  to  teach."  The  common-sense  "practical" 
man  would  probably  say:  Why,  teach  law  to  the  lawyer,  teach  medi- 
cine to  the  doctor,  engineering  to  the  engineer ;  and  teach  them  in  a  plain, 
practical  way,  so  that  the  students  can  understand  and  apply  the  knowl- 
edge. 

This  "horse-sense"  advise  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  a  young 
man  or  woman  between  eighteen  and  twenty-two  is  a  piece  of  soft  ma- 
terial, that  can  be  shaped  into  any  desired  form.  Alas,  Mr.  Business 
Man,  fortunately  it  is  not  so.  They  are  free,  thinking,  feeling,  and  will- 
ing (or  rather  unwilling)  beings,  and  to  make  them  assimilate  our 
teachings  is  at  least  fully  as  hard  as  for  you  to  sell  goods  to  your  cus- 
tomers. Human  education  is  not  a  mechanical  or  chemical  process,  or 
even  to  be  compared  with  the  training  of  monkeys.  It  is  an  organic 
process  of  self-development;  the  school  merely  provides  conditions 
favorable  for  such  self-development.  With  the  best  teachers  and  first- 
class  equipment,  we  fail  with  certain  individuals,  and  these  individuals 
are  not  necessarily  stupid  or  lazy.  They  simply  choose  not  to  develop 
according  to  prescription,  and  we  ought  to  be  glad  that  there  are  such 
individuals.  They  keep  before  our  eyes  our  most  precious  gift — free- 
dom of  choice.  I  would  not  part  with  this  gift  for  the  sake  of  burden- 
ing the  country  with  a  few  more  "stuffed"  college  graduates. 

Evidently,  it  is  impossible  to  give  a  general  answer  on  "what  to 
teach,"  and  "how  to  teach."  I  wish  only  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  these  two  problems  are  conffonting  us  all  the  time.  Success 
in  teaching  depends  primarily  on  two  subtle  psychological  factors:  live 
interest  and  well  directed  conscious  effort  on  the  part  of  the  student. 
You,  gentlemen,  are  stimulated  in  your  present  activities  by  many  potent 

*An  address  before  Cornell  Alumni  of   Pittsburg  on  August  29th,  1908. 


136  EDUCATIONAL  PROBLEMS. 

incentives,  such  as  immediate  useful  results,  notoriety,  increased  profits, 
desire  for  promotion,  fear  of  discharge,  and  so  on.  All  these  incentives 
are  virtually  lacking  with  our  students,  and  unless  we  wish  to  use  the 
methods  in  vogue  with  ancient  Egyptian  taskmasters,  we  have  to  rely 

on  the  spontaneous  interest  and  effort  on  the  part  of  our  students. 
********* 

Another  educational  problem  of  great  importance  is  the  relation 
between  professional  training  and  general  culture.  Most  of  our  stu- 
dents desire  in  the  first  place  a  professional  training  that  shall  give  them 
a  livelihood.  Again,  the  recent  progress  in  most  branches  of  practical 
activity  is  of  such  a  tremendous  scope,  that  fully  four  college  years  are 
required  for  professional  training  alone.  But  it  is  felt  by  the  best  educa- 
tors that  it  would  be  wrong  to  deprive  large  masses  of  professional 
students  of  the  benefit  and  pleasure  of  general  culture,  wrong  towards 
themselves  and  towards  the  country. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  what  is  general  culture?  My  answer  is: 
Man's  life  is  divided  between  furnishing  services  to  and  receiving  ser- 
vices from  society.  General  culture  comprises  such  studies  as  better 
enable  a  man  to  receive  and  to  enjoy  services  from  society,  while  pro- 
fessional training  enables  him  to  give  better  service  to  society.  From 
this  point  of  view,  French  literature,  botany,  or  even  the  steam  engine, 
can  be  studied  either  as  a  profession,  or  for  general  culture.  You  will 
see  from  this  definition  that  the  principal  aim  of  education — develop- 
ment of  all  of  the  man's  latent  powers — is  not  complete  without  a  fair 

amount  of  general  culture. 

********* 

II.  Emotional  Side  of  University  Life.  Young  teachers  are  often 
baffled  by  a  sudden  outbreak  of  laughter  in  a  class,  at  an  apparently 
insignificant  word,  a  gesture,  not  at  all  comical  to  an  outsider.  I  am  no 
longer  offended  at  these  outbreaks  since  I  came  to  understand  their 
cause.  A  man  needs  emotions  as  a  part  of  his  mental  life,  and  a  young 
man  or  woman  of  twenty  needs  them  badly.  The  college  life  offers  so 
little  opportunities  for  emotion  that  the  students  instinctively  looks  for 
any  small  occasion  to  laugh,  to  yell,  to  whistle,  to  run,  even  to  see  a  dog- 
fight. He  is  like  a  prisoner  who  is  glad  to  share  his  solitude  with  a 
little  opportunities  for  emotion  that  the  student  instinctively  looks  for 
horrid  mandolin  playing,  for  taking  an  exaggerated  interest  in  ball 
games,  for  spending  time  in  saloons  and  doubtful  down-town  resorts. 
But,  gentlemen,  once  natural  channels  for  emotions  are  throttled,  un- 
natural channels  are  sure  to  open  up.  I  know,  some  of  you  would  say, 
that  students  do  not  care  for  Shakesperean  plays,  classical  concerts, 
and  readings  from  Browning;  true,  because  these  things  are  not  purely 
emotional,  they  require  considerable  concentration  and  training  for  their 


KARAPETOFF.  137 

enjoyment.  Not  only  is  the  average  student  not  prepared  to  understand 
higher  art,  but  he  objects  to  using  his  intellect  in  it,  since  what  he 
wants  is  a  pure  play  of  simple  emotions.  Watch  him  sit  at  the  theater, 
and  rock,  and  whistle  a  catchy  refrain  with  the  chorus ;  only  an  ignora- 
mus would  say  that  his  mind  is  dormant  or  lazy.  His  emotions  are 
playing  intensely;  he  enjoys  in  his  imagination  the  part  of  life  that  reality 
has  cruelly  deprived  him  of.  Five-cent  shows  with  their  highly-emo- 
tional performances  have  rilled  a  long-felt  want  for  brain  workers,  and 
for  people  whose  life  has  much  drudgery  in  it. 

Now,  instead  of  deploring  and  condemning,  let  us  see  what  can 
be  done  to  give  students  the  necessary  emotions.  Said  old  Darwin  sadly 
at  the  end  of  his  life :  "If  I  had  to  live  my  life  again,  I  would  have  made 
a  rule  to  read  some  poetry  and  listen  to  some  music  at  least  every  week ; 
for,  perhaps,  the  parts  of  my  brain  now  atrophied  would  thus  have  been 
kept  alive  through  use.  The  loss  of  these  tastes  is  a  loss  of  happiness, 
and  may  possibly  be  injurious  to  the  intellect,  and  more  probably  to  the 
moral  character,  by  enfeebling  the  emotional  part  of  our  nature." 
Through  lack  of  emotions  man  is  dwarfed  both  esthetically  and  ethically, 
and  if  he  is  thus  dwarfed  during  his  student  years,  the  probabilities  are 
that  he  will  continue  to  drag  his  burdens  through  life  without  sunshine 
and  love,  like  a  mule  in  the  mine. 

What  then  is  to  be  done?  My  answer  is:  provide  more  oppor- 
tunities for  the  enjoyment  of  art  and  for  social  intercourse.  The  very 
nature  of  the  case  precludes  compulsion,  at  least  in  the  beginning.  We 
must  proceed  slowly,  because  a  lack  of  appreciation  of  art  is  a  general 
fault  in  this  country ;  the  remedy  must  begin  at  home  and  in  the  common 
schools.  I  am  aware  that  good  work  is  being  done  for  the  development 
of  artistic  taste ;  this  gives  me  courage  to  see  the  time  when  each  student 
will  be  required  to  pursue  in  the  University  the  study  of  at  least  one 
form  of  art:  literature,  poetry,  music,  painting,  sculpture,  in  their 
various  manifestations.  Mind  you,  he  will  pursue  them  for  the  emo- 
tional pleasure  that  is  in  them,  and  not  for  drudgery  or  any  utilitarian 
purpose.  With  a  proper  preparation  in  the  high  school  it  will  be  difficult 
to  find  a  student  who  would  not  manifest  even  the  slightest  interest  in 

these  arts.* 

*********** 

III.  Volitional  Side  of  University  Life.— Just  a  picture:  a  man  is 
drowning  in  the  river,  and  a  horrified  crowd  watches  him  from  the  shore ; 
one  of  the  spectators  hastily  takes  his  coat  off  and  jumps  into  the  water 
to  save  the  struggling  one.  Is  this  the  man  who  is  the  best  swimmer, 
or  a  man  whose  emotion  of  pity  is  more  deeply  aroused  than  that  of 


*As    I    understand,    the    only    required    subjects    in    schools    i»    Ancient 
Greece  were  music  and  the  study  of  the  Homeric  poems. 


138  EDUCATIONAL  PROBLEMS. 

anyone  else  in  the  crowd?  Not  necessarily;  he  is  a  man  whose  will  is 
trained  to  obey  the  dictates  of  the  intellect  and  the  heart.  In  my  estima- 
tion, an  educated  man  with  all  his  vast  knowledge  and  refined  emotions 
is  a  failure  unless  his  will  is  trained  to  do  what  he  knows  and  feels  he 
ought  to  do. 

Our  watch-word  must  be :  "Cornell  men  are  trained  to  do  things;" 
this  was  the  ideal  of  the  founders  of  the  University — Ezra  Cornell  and 
Andrew  D.  White — men  of  great  deeds  and  high  practical  achievements. 
Some  of  you  may  think  that  the  business  of  the  University  is  to  teach, 
and  not  worry  about  students'  emotions  and  wills.  We  feel,  however, 
that  our  purpose  is  not  fully  accomplished  unless  we  graduate  men  and 
women  who  not  only  know  and  feel  things,  but  who  actually  do  things 
when  the  time  comes  to  act. 

Now,  the  will,  like  any  other  faculty,  grows  by  exercise,  and  the 
difficult  side  of  the  problem  is:  How  to  organize  University  life  so  that 
students  should  have  enough  opportunity  to  exercise  their  wills,  to 
choose,  and  actually  to  bear  the  consequences  of  their  decisions.  The 
student  undoubtedly  has  to  exercise  his  will  in  going  to  the  lectures  at 
appointed  hours,  in  preparing  his  recitations  and  reports,  in  voting  for 
class  officers,  and  in  taking  part  in  various  students'  activities.  But  this 
is  far  from  enough:  He  or  she  is  guided  too  much  from  without,  and 
the  consequences  of  a  student's  decision  are  not  at  all  in  proportion  to- 
the  differences  in  the  motives.  During  the  last  panic  a  considerable 
number  of  engineering  apprentices  and  of  trade  apprentices  have  been 
laid  off  by  a  large  concern  for  an  indefinite  time.  The  foreman  of  the 
apprentices  told  me  that  trade  apprentices  took  this  event  in  an  entirely 
different  way  from  college  graduates.  The  trade  apprentices,  being 
used  to  rely  upon  their  own  resources,  immediately  began  to  plan  their 
program  of  action,  while  college  men  seemed  to  be  hopelessly  lostr 
as  soon  as  they  could  no  longer  follow  a  program  arranged  for  them  by 
others.  I  should  be  loath  to  think  that  college  education  weakens  the 
will  while  developing  the  intellect,  yet  I  do  not  see  much  in  our  Univer- 
sity life  that  is  conducive  to  the  development  of  the  will. 

The  manager  of  a  large  company  in  the  Middle  West  told  me  re- 
cently that  in  filling  positions  with  college  graduates  he  always  gives- 
preference  to  those  who  have  been  prominent  in  students'  activities. 
"It  does  not  matter,"  said  he,  "whether  the  man  distinguished  himself  in 
athletics,  in  politics,  or  in  literary  activity.  It  simply  means  that  he  i? 
a  man  of  strong  will  and  initiative,  a  man  who  can  be  relied  upon  to 
achieve  results,  without  an  external  pressure." 

I  think,  this  is  a  correct  view  regarding  students'  activities,  and  it 
is  from  this  point  of  view  that  we  must  encourage  them.  The  greatest 
difficulty  is  to  induce  a  large  mass  of  students  to  take  a  moderate  part  in' 


KARAPETOFF.  139 

these  activities,  instead  of  a  few  becoming  experts  and  almost  profes- 
sionals, while  the  rest  are  satisfied  with  watching  them  and  cheering  the 
favorites.  ********* 

We  often  hear  from  our  Alumni  and  from  various  employers  of 
our  graduates :  "Why  do  you  not  teach  your  students  this  or  that ;  this 
is  of  great  importance  in  practical  life."  The  tendency  is,  at  least  in 
the  colleges  of  applied  science,  to  teach  too  many  things  in  a  general 
way,  and  none  thoroughly.  This  is  detrimental  for  the  development  of 
the  will,  since  the  student  has  no  opportunity  for  concentration  and  for 
original  study  and  research.  The  problem  is  to  organize  the  courses  so 
that  the  student  gets  enough  general  information,  and  at  the  same  time 
some  practice  in  special  research,  in  which  he  has  to  exercise  his  judg- 
ment and  will.  But  to  achieve  this,  the  course  must  be  lengthened  by  at 
least  one  year. 

I  have  indicated  a  few  general  educational  problems  that  we  have 
to  deal  with  in  our  University.  In  addition  to  these,  there  are  problems 
of  wide  national  and  international  character,  that  affect  instruction  and 
reflect  upon  the  students'  life.  As  such  I  would  mention  great  differences 
in  the  wealth  of  students;  low  standards  and  ideals,  as  a  result  of  greed 
and  struggle  for  existence  outside  the  University;  indifference  to  philo- 
sophical discussion  and  to  religious  duties,  because  of  the  uncertainty 
pervading  our  economic  and  political  life ;  use  of  liquors,  loose  morals, 
and  a  low  estimate  of  women;  indifference  to  the  great  political  and 
economic  issues  of  the  times,  and  a  tendency  to  follow  demagogues  and 
bosses.  All  these  things  students  bring  from  their  homes,  imbibe  from 
papers  and  magazines,  and  inculcate  from  one  another.  We  are  en- 
deavoring to  counteract  these  harmful  tendencies  by  all  the  means  at 
our  disposal;  and  yet  these  being  the  curse  of  the  times,  our  work  is 
successful  only  in  proportion  as  we  have  the  support  of  agencies  outside 
the  University.  The  American  people  as  a  whole  must  make  a  de- 
termined effort  to  free  themselves  of  the  remains  of  barbaric  times  and 
establish  a  new  commonwealth  upon  higher  standards  of  thinking  and 
living^. 


HINTS  TO  STUDENTS  ON  THE  EDUCATION 
OF   AN   ENGINEER. 

By 
Dr.  Ira.  O.  Baker. 

Dr.  Baker  is  one  of  America's  most  distinguished  engineering  in- 
structors and  authors,  and  his  advice  to  students  should  carry  great 
weight.  No  one  who  reads  the  following  paper  can  fail  to  be  deeply 
impressed  with  the  soundness  of  its  doctrine,  the  profundity  of  its 
thoughts,  and  the  elegance  of  its  diction.  It  certainly  is  one  of  the 
most  important  of  all  the  papers  that  the  Editors  have  collected.  Stu- 
dents are  earnestly  urged  to  read,  ponder  upon,  believe,  and  follow  the 
advice  herein  given  by  one  who  is  universally  acknowledged  to  be  a 
great  leader  in  technical  education. 

Editors. 


141 


HINTS  TO  STUDENTS  ON  THE  EDUCATION 
OF   AN   ENGINEER. 

By 

Dr.  Ira.  O.  Baker. 

Before  Civil  Engineers'  Club  of  University  of  Illinois 
March  28,  1887. 

A  recent  discussion  of  civil  engineering  education  in  a  prominent 
engineering  journal  by  eminent  professors  and  practicing  engineers, 
suggested  this  subject.  That  discussion  had  reference  mainly  to  the 
facilities  which  should  be  possessed  by  an  institution  professing  to  edu- 
cate civil  engineers ;  this  article  will  have  reference  to  how  you  as  stu- 
dents of  civil  engineering  may  make  the  most  of  the  opportunities  offered 
by  this  institution. 

First  let  me  remind  you  of  the  three  elements  of  a  true  education, — 
development,  training,  and  information.  By  the  first  I  mean  the  capa- 
city for  abstract  conception  and  reasoning;  by  the  second,  the  forma- 
tion of  correct  habits  of  thought  and  methods  of  reasoning,  and  the 
training  of  the  hand  to  execute  and  the  eye  to  see;  and  by  the  third, 
the  acquisition  of  the  thoughts  and  experiences  of  other  men,  and  of  the 
truths  of  nature.  The  development  of  the  mental  faculties  is  by  far  the 
most  important,  since  it  alone  confers  that  "power  which  masters  all  it 
touches,  which  can  adapt  old  forms  to  new  uses,  or  create  new  and 
better  means  of  reaching  old  ends ;"  and  without  this  power  the  engineer 
can  not  hope  to  practice  his  profession  with  any  chance  of  success.  The 
formation  of  correct  habits  of  thinking  and  working,  habits  of  observing, 
of  classifying,  of  investigating,  of  understanding,  of  getting  clear  and 
distinct  ideas,  of  proving  instead  of  guessing,  of  weighing  evidence,  and 
of  thoroughly  honest  work,  is  a  method  of  using  that  power  economical- 
ly. The  accumulation  of  facts  is  the  least  important.  The  power  to  ac- 
quire information,  and  the  knowledge  of  how  to  use  it  when  obtained, 
are  of  far  greater  value  than  any  number  of  the  most  useful  facts. 
There  is  no  comparison  between  the  value  of  a  ton  of  nails  and  the 
power  to  make  a  single  one. 

The  student,  particularly  of  the  technical  courses,  not  infrequently 
reverses  the  above  order,  and  assumes  that  the  acquisition  ,of  informa- 
tion, especially  that  directly  useful  in  his  proposed  profession,  is  the  most 
valuable  element  of  an  education.  Probably  this  error  is  owing  to  a 
misapprehension  of  the  aim  of  a  technical  school.  'It  is  assumed  that 

143 


144  HINTS  TO  STUDENTS. 

the  object  is  to  fit  the  student  to  earn  his  livelihood  more  easily,  and 
that  therefore  the  institution  should  give  him  the  maximum  amount  of 
information  and  practice  directly  applicable  in  his  professional  work.  If 
this  idea  were  to  prevail,  there  would  be  no  difference  between  a  tech- 
nical college  and  a  trade  school,  and  the  product  would  be  skillful  ma- 
chines instead  of  educated  men.  The  prime  object  is  to  make  the  stu- 
dent a  wiser  and  stronger  and  more  complete  man,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  train  and  develop  his  faculties  in  the  direction  most  useful  to  the  en- 
gineer. This  end  is  sought  to  be  accomplished  by  coupling  the  mental 
development  of  the  student  with  the  acquisition  of  training  and  in- 
formation directly  useful  in  the  exercise  of  his  profession.  The  best 
results  -would  be  obtained  if  the  student  should  cultivate  and  expand  his 
power  by  pursuing  a  general  course  before  entering  upon  the  technical 
studies.  The  lawyer,  the  doctor,  and  the  preacher,  all  take  a  general 
course  and  then  the  special.  Why  should  not  the  engineer?  Can  the  en- 
gineering student,  in  four  years,  accomplish  as  much  as  the  student  of 
law,  or  of  medicine,  or  of  theology  does  in  seven?  Is  it  wise  for  the 
engineering  student  to  neglect  that  preparatory  education  which  in  the 
professions  of  law,  medicine,  and  theology  has  long  been  recognized  as 
essential  for  a  professional  education?  An  eminent,  practicing  engineer 
has  said  that  "no  greater  mistake  was  ever  made  than  that  which  as- 
serts that  the  engineer  does  not  need  to  be  liberally  educated." 

Next  let  me  emphasize  the  fact  that  it  is  best  to  follow  one  of  the 
regular  courses.  If  for  no  better  reason,  take  a  prescribed  course  be- 
cause of  the  experience  of  the  early  graduates  of  this  institution.  In 
the  beginning  no  degrees  were  given,  and  our  graduates  found  them- 
selves seriously  handicapped  by  the  lack  of  the  usual  evidence  of  a  col- 
legiate education.  A  few  students,  although  they  propose  to  take  the 
prescribed  course,  wish  to  change  the  order  of  topics.  The  courses  as 
printed  are  probably  the  best,  and  following  them  certainly  obviates  any 
conflicts  in  times  of  recitation.  In  the  mind  of  the  student  there  is  al- 
ways some  particular  reason  for  departing  from  the  course;  but  ex- 
perience shows  that  in  most  cases,  the  student  himself  subsequently  sees 
that  he  chose  unwisely. 

Many  students  who  follow  a  regular  course  take  some  extra  stud- 
ies, but  not  infrequently  make  a  mistake  in  selecting  them.  These  extra 
studies  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  student  to  broaden  his  field  of 
knowledge,  and  in  choosing  them  the  three  elements  of  an  education 
should  be  steadily  borne  in  mind.  Generally  they  are  selected  because 
of  their  supposed  immediate  bearing  upon  the  work  of  the  chosen  pro- 
fession. For  example,  a  student  in  civil  engineering,  wishing  to  take  an 
extra  study,  selects  architectural  drawing,  because  it  will  increase  his 
skill  in  drawing  and  therefore  the  better  fit  him  to  do  any  of  that  kind 


BAKER.  145 

of  work  that  may  fall  to  his  lot  after  leaving  college.  Whereas,  having 
obtained  the  principles  of  drawing  and  the  practice  necessary  to  explain 
their  application  and  to  fix  them  in  his  mind,  it  would  be  wiser  to  employ 
his  time  at  something  else  and  wait  for  the  practice  which  comes  after- 
ward to  obtain  skill  in  drawing.  If  he  selects  architectural  drawing 
with  a  desire  to  learn  something  of  the  principles  of  architecture,  and 
holds  the  mere  technic  of  drawing  as  subordinate  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  architectural  construction  or  ornamentation,  he  chooses 
wisely.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  he  takes  the  subject  because  he  thinks 
it  will  be  useful  in  designing  a  depot  or  round-house,  he  will  probably 
not  derive  much  benefit  from  the  study,  for  if  the  professor  seeks  to  il- 
lustrate an  important  principle  by  reference  to  a  triumphal  arch  or  an 
ancient  cathedral,  the  student  will  probably  turn  a  deaf  ear  and  allow  his 
mind  to  wander  to  the  time  when  he  hopes  to  get  a  large  salary  for 
copying  the  drawings  made  in  the  recitation  room.  A  student  having  an 
opportunity  to  take  an  extra  study  should  select  one  that  will  develop 
some  neglected  intellectual  faculty,  or  train  his  hand  and  eye  in  some 
new  direction,  or  store  his  mind  with  a  new  class  of  ideas.  In  pursuing 
it,  let  him  try  to  discover  the  spirit  of  the  new  subject,  note  the  char- 
acter of  the  data  considered,  and  compare  the  method  of  arriving  at  the 
results  with  those  employed  in  the  topics  with  which  he  is  more  familiar. 
In  connection  with  the  question  of  extra  studies  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  three  acres  plowed  deep  generally  yield  more  than  four  plowed 
shallow. 

However,  the  spirit  with  which  the  student  pursues  the  studies  of 
his  chosen  course  determines  the  amount  and  quality  of  the  education 
he  gets.  There  are  three  things  which  sometimes  unduly  affect  the 
interest,  and  consequently  the  progress,  of  a  student  in  his  studies. 
1.  His  estimate  of  the  relative  value  of  the  different  topics  in  the  educa- 
tion of  an  engineer;  2,  the  supposed  practical  bearing  of  the  topic  upon 
the  actual  work  of  his  profession ;  and  3,  the  immediate  influence  of  any 
class  of  information  in  securing  a  position  after  graduation. 

1.  He  thinks  that  the  best  engineering  education  is  to  be  obtained 
by  giving  as  much  of  his  time  as  possible  to  the  technical  subjects.  The 
great  multiplication  of  knowledge  has  made  this  an  age  of  specialists, 
and  if  one  would  attain  the  highest  success  he  must  devote  his  attention 
to  a  narrow  field ;  but  he  can  not  know  one  subject  thoroughly  until  he 
knows  something  of  others.  It  is  not  expected  that  the  engineer  shall 
also  be  a  learned  linguist,  nor  a  practical  analytical  chemist,  nor  an  ex- 
pert geologist,  nor  a  profound  physicist;  but  he  must  have  some  know- 
ledge of  these  topics  before  he  can  practice  his  own  profession  credit- 
ablv. 


146  HINTS  TO  STUDENTS. 

2.  He  often  makes  a  mistake  in  his  estimate  of  the  bearing  of  any 
topic  upon  the  actual  work  of  his  profession.     For  example,  he  thinks 
the  adjustment  of  the  surveying  instruments  is  more  important  than  de- 
scriptive geometry,  while  the  fact  is  that  he  who  is  well  grounded  in 
the  principles  of  descriptive  geometry  will  be  able  to  adjust  any  instru- 
ment at  sight.     Again,  students  are  always  more  interested  in  railroad 
engineering  than  in  analytical  mechanics;  and  they  consider  it  far  more 
important  to  learn  a  method  of  keeping  transit  notes  than  to  understand 
the  method  of  finding  the  angle  at  which  a  force  acts  at  the  best  advantage 
in  dragging  one  body  upon  another.     The  first  gives  information  only, 
while  the  second  gives  the  three  elements,  mental  development,  intel- 
lectual training,  and  information.    Judged,  even  from  the  student's  point 
of  view,  the  latter  is  of  more  practical  importance;  and,   farther,  he 
who  has  the  ability  fully  to  comprehend  it  can  devise  a  form  of  keeping 
his   notes   which    will   probably   be  better    for   him   than   any   he   can 
get  from  any  one  else.     It  is  far  better  to  be  able  to  own  the  machine 
which   turns   out  nails  by  the  tens  of  thousands  than  to  be  able  to 
hammer  out  a  few  by  hand.     Civil  engineering  education  in  America 
may  be  said  to  have  commenced  with  the  building  of  the  Erie  Canal. 
What  think  you  would  have  been  the  effect,  if  the  engineering  student 
of  that  day  had  been  content  to  limit  his  studies  to  those  branches  which 
he   thought   would   be   directly  applicable   in   canal   building?     Would 
he  have  been  able  to  solve  the  problems  necessitated  by  a  new  mode 
of  transportation?    No  one  can  foretell  the  development  of  the  future, 
or  the  possible  practical  bearing  of  any  topic.    A  few  years  ago  students 
in  physics  desired  to  omit     electricity,  "because  it  was  of  no  practical 
importance;"   while   only   a   year   or   two   afterwards   their   successors 
wanted  to  give  all  their  time  to  that  branch,  "because  of  its  great  prac- 
tical importance."     A  broad  scientific  training  is  the  best  preparation 
for  any  branch  of  engineering. 

3.  The  attitude  of  a  student  toward  his  studies  is  often  affected 
by  the  idea  that,  if  he  would  get  a  position  after  leaving  school,  he  must 
make  his  education  "practical."     The  demand  for  technical  graduates 
seems   to   be   increasing,   but   it   is    certain    that   they   are   not   sought 
after   solely   because   they   have   crammed   their   heads   and   their   note 
books  with   rules  and   formulas.     The  most   simple   operations   require 
the  exercise  of  that  good  judgment  which  comes  only  to  him  who  has 
paid  the  price  by  a  study  of  those  things  which  cultivate  and  expand 
the  intellect.     The  man  who  learns  simply  the  practice  of  his  day  will 
soom  be  "behind  the  times ;"  he  is  a  machine  to  be  laid  aside  when  a 
more  profitable  one  is  found.     But  he  who  has  caught  the  spirit   of 
growth  is  the  one  who  makes  precedents  and  determines  the  practice 
of  his  times.     The  latter  only  is  able  to  solve  old  problems  under  new 


BAKER.  147 

conditions;  he  only  has  the  good  judgment  necessary  to  know  when  to 
be  exact  and  when  not  to  be  exact;  he  only  understands  that  there  is 
very  much  that  books  and  formulas  can  not  include.  The  wonderful 
material  development  of  our  country  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
together  with  the  scarcity  of  technical  schools,  made  it  possible  for 
poorly  educated  and  unripe  engineers  to  find  employment;  but  the 
conditions  are  rapidly  changing.  The  evidence  is  abundant  and  con- 
clusive. The  new  problems  demand  higher  engineering  ability  and 
wider  knowledge.  The  wise  young  engineer  will  prepare  himself  accord- 
ingly. 

In  conclusion,  there  is  one  point  on  which  I  hope  there  will  be 
no  mistake.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  claiming  that  a  general 
education  alone  is  a  sufficient  preparation  for  the  practice  of  civil  en- 
gineering. The  best  technical  training  must  be  founded  on  a  thorough 
scientific  education.  Although  a  man  with  a  general  education  could 
"pick  up"  the  necessary  special  information  without  attending  a  tech- 
nical school,  it  would  be  to  his  advantage,  both  in  the  final  result  and 
in  economy  of  time,  to  pursue  a  technical  course.  The  special  en- 
gineering school  not  only  develops  that  quality  of  mind  most  suitable 
to  the  engineer,  but  also  gives  him  information  and  practice  which  it  has 
been  abundantly  proved  are  of  great  utility  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  claimed  that  students  immediately 
upon  graduation  from  the  technical  course  are  engineers  of  mature  judg- 
ment, although  as  a  rule  their  training  and  attainments  enable  them  to 
make  a  rapid  growth. 

But,  finally,  let  no  student  pursue  an  education  alone  for  its 
material  ends.  He  should  strive  to  be  not  only  a  trained  specialist  but 
also  an  educated  man,  and  some  day,  if  not  now,  he  will  see  that  the 
latter  is  as  desirable  as  the  former. 


THE  PRACTICAL  ENGINEER. 

By 
Onward  Bates,  C.  E. 

This  address  was  delivered  in  December,  1909,  to  the  Civil  En- 
gineers' Club  of  the  University  of  Illinois  by  a  civil  engineer  who  has 
attained  great  success  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  who  has 
been  honored  by  the  highest  distinction  which  that  profession  can 
bestow  upon  any  of  its  votaries,  viz.,  the  presidency  of  the  American 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers. 

It  has  been  found  necessary  to  omit  certain  parts  of  it  which  are 
not  specially  fitted  for  the  purpose  of  this  book,  notably  both  the  be- 
ginning and  the  ending.  What  has  been  retained  consists  mainly  of 
good,  sensible  advice.  The  Editors  can  heartily  endorse  what  Mr. 
Bates  says  concerning  the  importance  of  correct  spelling,  for  in  their 
practice  they  make  a  point  of  rejecting  all  applications  for  positions, 
when  such  applications  are  mis-spelled.  Of  course,  every  man  is  liable 
to  make  a  slip  in  spelling  occasionally,  often  from  carelessness  rather 
than  lack  of  knowledge;  but  a  grossly  mis-spelled  letter  is  a  sure  indica- 
tion that  its  writer  has  not  been  as  thoroughly  educated  as  a  graduate 
engineer  should  be. 

What  Mr.  Bates  says  about  the  lack  of  ability  of  many  young  en- 
gineers to  write  letters  and  to  talk  is  unfortunately  too  true;  and  this 
defect  is  far  more  important  than  most  people  deem  it.  The  persistence 
with  which  American  engineering  students  as  a  class  ignore  the  study 
of  English  is  simply  disheartening.  It  seems  almost  impossible  to 
force  them  to  believe  that  a  command  of  their  native  language  is  at  all 
essential  to  their  professional  success. 

This  paper  is  written  with  great  force  and  vigor,  and  its  teachings 
are  true ;  consequently  it  behooves  both  students  and  young  engineers  to 
give  heed  to  its  instructions  and  profit  therefrom. 

Editors. 


149 


THE  PRACTICAL  ENGINEER. 

By 
Onward  Bates,  C.  E. 


If  I  give  you  a  lecture  on  words,  it  is  not  wholly  inappropriate 
under  the  title  of  the  Practical  Engineer.  We  are  not  dummies ;  words 
are  as  necessary  to  us  as  to  others,  and  in  our  profession  more  neces- 
sary than  in  some  others.  I  will  not  ask  if  each  of  you  knows  his 
letters,  accepting  that  much  without  question;  but  I  do  question  if  each 
of  you  knows  how  to  spell.  If  you  do,  it  is  more  than  some  practical 
engineers  do.  Correct  spelling  is  an  accomplishment;  a  man  is  fre- 
quently under-rated  just  because  he  has  made  some  mistakes  in  spelling. 
It  is  also  a  matter  of  importance  for  sometimes  the  idea  one  wishes 
to  convey  is  changed  by  a  mistake  in  spelling.  It  is  important  to  know 
the  meaning  of  words,  in  order  that  you  may  say  or  write  what  you 
mean.  How  can  one  expect  to  write  specifications,  or  draw  up  con7 
tracts,  if  he  does  not  know  what  words  to  use,  and  what  construction 
can  be  put  upon  them  when  they  have  been  used  ?  In  addition  to  spelling 
correctly,  and  using  words  whose  meaning  you  understand,  it  is  still 
more  essential  that  you  should  know  how  to  string  them  together. 
Our  profession  is  exact  in  its  nature,  and  should  be  precise  in  its 
expressions  of  fact  or  opinion,  written  or  spoken.  There  is  no  occupa- 
tion in  which  it  is  more  important  to  say  precisely  what  is  meant  to 
be  said.  The  engineer's  opinions  should  be  expressed  with  the  same 
regard  for  accuracy  as  is  used  in  his  mathematical  computations. 

Can  you  write  a  letter?  Some  engineers  cannot.  They  may  write 
what  purports  to  be  a  letter,  and  can  perhaps  make  their  correspondent 
understand  the  ideas  they  wish  to  convey.  I  do  not  ask  if  you  can 
write  legibly;  that  seems  to  be  a  lost  art,  and  is  not,  in  these  days  of 
typewriters,  to  be  expected.  Yet  the  writing  machine  is  not  always  at 
hand,  and  bad  hand-writing  is  far  more  risky  and  impolite  than  mumbling 
of  words  where  you  have  the  opportunity  to  apologize  and  repeat  them. 
I  mean,  can  you  write  a  letter,  stating  in  clear,  distinct,  concise,  and 
correct  language  the  facts  and  opinions  which  you  wish  to  make  known 
to  your  correspondent?  If  you  cannot,  then  your  education  as  an  en- 
gineer is  incomplete. 

Do  you  know  how  to  talk?  To  talk  well  is  a  great  art.  You  can 
please,  you  can  plead,  you  can  instruct,  you  can  command,  or  you  can 

151 


152  THE  PRACTICAL  ENGINEER. 

rebuke,  in  each  case  with  the  right  use  of  words,  and  the  right  degree 
of  emphasis,  if  you  can  correctly  use  the  English  language.  Engineers 
take  pride  in  being  workers;  they  like  it  to  be  said  of  them  that  they 
are  the  people  who  do  things.  In  fact  they  seem  to  feel  rather  above 
talking,  leaving  that  for  the  common  people  to  do.  Nevertheless  they 
do  talk,  and  not  always  to  the  best  advantage.  In  the  most  momentous 
affairs  they  get  others  to  talk  for  them,  and  when,  as  sometimes  hap- 
pens, they  fall  under  the  necessity  of  making  arguments,  explanations, 
or  demands,  they  suffer  from  inability  to  do  justice  to  their  cause. 
We  may  say  that  anybody  can  talk,  and  that  some  people  make  a 
business  of  talking;  and  yet  mature  observation  leads  one  to  believe 
that  scarcely  any  other  talent  is  more  serviceable  and  more  profitable. 
Talk,  like  every  other  commodity,  is  valuable  not  for  its  quantity  but 
for  its  quality.  There  are  times  when  a  few  words  of  wisdom  are  worth 
more  than  volumes  of  nonsense,  although  the  latter  has  its  value  at 
other  times. 

The  command  of  the  English  language  is  a  necessity  as  well  as  an 
accomplishment.  It  is  the  language  of  the  profession,  and  it  is  fast 
becoming  the  language  of  the  civilized  world.  The  knowledge  of  this 
language  is  an  essential  requirement  of  the  educated  engineer ;  it  is  a 
necessary  part  of  his  equipment,  and  we  may  call  it  one  of  the  tools 
of  the  profession.  We  attach  great  importance  to  the  other  tools,  and 
in  my  opinion  have  neglected  this  important  one.  How  often  do  we 
observe  an  engineer,  who  has  an  excellent  technical  education,  and  who 
can  apply  it  in  his  work,  and  yet  lacks  the  facility  of  language  which 
qualifies  him  to  engage  in  discussions  of  a  general  nature  with  men  of 
other  occupations. 

The  preceding  discussion  of  words  and  their  use  may  seem  to  you 
more  appropriate  for  an  address  in  a  primary  school  than  in  a  Civil 
Engineers'  Club.  It  was  purposely  introduced,  to  call  your  attention 
to  one  of  the  short-comings  of  the  practical  engineer.  Assuming  for 
the  sake  of  argument  that  it  is  a  short-coming,  then  who  is  respon- 
sible for  this  condition?  It  may  be  the  fault  of  the  University,  in  not 
teaching  the  subject.  Or,  if  the  professors  make  the  excuse  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  language  should  be  acquired  before  entering  the 
University-,  it  may  be  their  fault  that  they  have  not  enforced  this  re- 
quirement. It  may  be  your  own  fault,  in  failing  to  avail  yourselves  of 
your  opportunities  in  the  University  and  in  the  preparatory  schools. 
Whosesoever  fault  it  is,  if  you  are  deficient  in  this  respect,  I  advise 
you  to  rectify  the  deficiency.  You  can  do  this  on  your  volition.  There 
are  many  practical  engineers  who  are  self  educated,  and  who  have 
acquired  a  good  command  of  language.  The  means  for  this  acquire- 


BATES.  153 

ment  are  at  hand  and  consist  principally  in  conversation  with  those 
who  speak  correctly,  in  reading  good  books,  in  studying  examples  of 
well  written  letters,  in  a  constant  use  of  the  dictionary,  and  in  a  con- 
sideration of  all  that  one  speaks  or  writes.  Many  a  man  who  has  no 
acquaintance  with  text  books  on  grammar,  has  succeeded  in  acquiring 
a  correct  use  of  language  by  availing  himself  of  these  means;  and  if 
you  keep  good  company,  and  read  good  books,  this  accomplishment  is 
naturally  and  easily  acquired. 

This  dissertation  on  the  use  of  the  English  language  is  intended 
to  call  your  attention  in  a  pointed  manner  to  a  weakness  of  the  prac- 
tical engineer  which  has  been  the  subject  of  frequent  criticism,  and  as 
this  is  only  one  of  the  many  faults  which  are  found  in  him,  to  prepare 
your  minds  for  the  consideration  of  the  general  criticism,  that  the 
engineer,  as  compared  with  men  in  other  occupations,  is  narrow  and 
one-sided.  I  speak  now  of  all  engineers,  practical  and  otherwise. 

Let  us  consider  this  general  criticism. 

If  it  is  without  foundation  it  cannot  stand  and  we  can  refute  it. 
If  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  reason  for  it,  we  ought  to  study  ourselves 
and  remove  any  causes  which  warrant  it.  Speaking  from  my  own 
experience  I  think  the  criticism  is  a  just  one.  I  have  personally  felt 
myself  handicapped  by  fixed  ideas,  narrow  views,  and  a  stubborn  pur- 
pose of  proving  myself  to  be  in  the  right.  Again  for  the  sake  of  argu- 
ment, let  us  assume  that  engineers  in  general  possess  these  faults,  and 
let  us  look  for  the  causes  of  them,  and  seek  the  remedy  for  them. 
Is  narrowness  of  mind  an  inherent  quality  which  leads  one  to  select 
engineering  as  his  vocation?  I  reject  this  query  with  scorn,  and  only 
mention  it  to  dispose  of  it  at  once  and  altogether.  Having  progressed 
so  far,  we  know  that  we  must  look  for  the  causes  outside  of  the  indi- 
vidual. It  must  then  be  due  to  his  education,  and  I  think  the  trouble 
is  located  in  the  University.  The  professors  may  demolish  me  for  this 
statement,  but  I  have  a  right  to  make  it;  for  I  am  a  member  of  the 
National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education.  I  am 
also  a  member  of  a  National  Committee  to  consider  the  Status  of  En- 
gineering Education.  I  objected  to  serving  on  this  committee,  on 
the  ground  that  I  was  not  a  college  man,  ai}d  was  jokingly  informed  that 
it  was  a  case  where  practical  engineers  were  needed  to  balance  the  pro- 
fessors. 

Having  made  the  general  statement,  that  the  University  course  as 
applied  to  students  of  engineering,  has  the  effect  of  graduating  men 
who  are  narrow  and  one-sided,  it  is  incumbent  on  me  to  give  my 
reasons  for  this  statement.  In  the  first  instance,  professors  of  en- 
gineering are  usually  specialists,  and  they  generally  teach  their  spe- 
cialties. If  one  is  a  master,  as  he  should  be,  of  the  special  subject 


154  THE  PRACTICAL  ENGINEER. 

which  he  teaches,  it  is  natural  and  to  be  expected  that  the  importance 
of  that  subject  is  magnified  in  his  mind  when  compared  with  other 
branches  of  the  science  of  engineering.  In  his  efforts  to  impart  the 
knowledge  of  his  specialty  to  the  student,  the  latter  forms  his  opinion 
of  the  specialty  and  is  much  influenced  by  the  personality  of  the  teacher. 
If  the  subject  is  one  for  which  the  student  has  an  aptitude  or  liking, 
it  obtains  a  preference  in  his  mind  over  other  subjects.  He  becomes 
more  proficient  in  it  and  he  attaches  more  importance  to  it.  This 
criticism  applies  in  a  general  way  to  each  of  the  professors  constitut- 
ing the  faculty  of  an  engineering  college.  This  faculty  is  composed 
of  a  number  of  engineers,  each  one  selected  for  his  knowledge  of  the 
science  of  engineering,  and  for  his  ability  to  teach  some  special  branch 
of  that  science.  It  is  an  old  saying,  that  it  takes  nine  tailors  to  make 
a  man,  and  I  suppose  it  takes  at  least  that  many  professors  to  make 
an  engineer. 

Many  years  ago  I  was  asked  to  give  an  address  as  a  practical  en- 
gineer to  the  students  of  <he  civil  engineering  department  of  Cornell 
University.  I  arrived  at  Cornell  the  day  before  my  address  was  to  be 
delivered,  and  was  shown  through  the  buildings  and  introduced  to  the 
professors.  At  first  I  was  very  much  in  awe  of  them,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  impertinent  that  I  should  presume  to  address  students  who  were 
under  the  instruction  of  men,  each  of  whom  was  a  high  authority  in 
some  line  of  professional  knowledge.  I  was  appalled  at  my  own  ig- 
norance and  wished  myself  at  home.  However,  as  I  became  acquainted 
with  these  learned  men,  I  discovered  that  each  one  held  to  his  own 
specialty,  and  was  most  deferential  to  his  brethren  who  taught  other 
specialties.  Then  my  mind  began  to  clear  up  regarding  them,  and  I 
reflected  that  while  I  could  sit  at  the  feet  of  any  one  of  them  and 
be  instructed  in  his  specialty,  there  were  lines  of  practical  engineering 
in  which  I  was  perhaps  more  competent  to  obtain  results  than  he  was. 
With  this  comforting  thought  I  braced  up  and  talked  to  the  young  men 
with  confidence,  as  I  am  now  talking  to  you.  Do  not,  for  one  moment, 
consider  my  remarks  as  in  any  sense  derogatory  to  engineering  profes- 
sors at  this  or  any  other  University.  They  command  my  admiration, 
for  among  them  I  see  men  pf  undoubted  talent  and  knowledge  which 
would  bring  them  far  better  pecuniary  recompense  for  their  labors, 
and  far  greater  appreciation  from  the  public,  if  they  were  engaged  as 
practical  engineers  instead  of  professors.  Theirs  is  an  example  of  true 
devotion  to  the  profession,  and  doubtless  they  feel  that  it  is  a  higher 

grade  of  work  to  make  engineers  than  to  practice  the  profession. 

*##•*#*  *** 

* 

I  have  recently  heard  the  statement  made  that  the  study  of  mathe- 
matics, and  of  other  subjects  which  require  precise  and  concentrated 


BATES.  155 

application,  have  a  tendency  to  cause  the  mind  to  move  within  narrow 
or  restricted  limits  in  the  direction  of  such  concentrated  application. 
How  much  of  truth  there  is  in  this  statement  I  am  not  enough  of  a 
psychologist  to  determine,  but  I  can  readily  understand  the  possibility 
of  some  such  effect;  and  if  it  be  granted  that  it  is  a  fact,  instead  of 
a  possibility,  we  must  look  to  the  Universities  to  provide  the  remedy. 

The  function  of  a  University  is  not  so  mtich  to  store  a  certain 
amount  of  knowledge  in  the  minds  of  its  students,  preparatory  to  their 
graduation,  as  it  is  to  qualify  them  for  taking  their  places  in  the  world 
as  men  among  men.  As  a  corollary  of  this  statement  we  may  say 
that  the  knowledge  of  mathematics,  and  of  the  use  of  instruments, 
does  not  make  an  engineer.  This  knowledge  is  absolutely  essential, 
for  one  cannot  be  an  engineer  without  possessing  it;  and  to  avoid  being 
misunderstood,  I  wish  to  say,  with  the  utmost  emphasis,  that  it  is 
impossible  for  an  engineer  to  have  too  thorough  a  knowledge  of  any 
thing  which  is  required  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  At  the  same 
time,  if  you  only  know  mathematics  and  the  use  of  your  instruments, 
and  you  enter  the  actual  practice  of  engineering  using  the  mathematics 
and  the  instruments  to  accomplish  certain  results,  you  are  not  practicing 
the  profession  but  reducing  the  profession  to  the  status  of  a  trade. 
It  is  a  common  error  among  engineers,  and  particularly  among  the 
younger  men  of  the  profession,  to  assume  that  they  are  only  to  do  in 
practice  what  they  have  been  taught  to  do  in  their  study  of  the  pro- 
fession, and  to  do  it  in  the  identical  manner  in  which  they  have  been 
instructed  to  do  it.  The  engineering  profession,  rightly  considered, 
is  an  extremely  broad  one ;  and  the  young  engineer,  who  desires  to 
attain  eminence,  must  cultivate  breadth  of  -character,  of  judgment, 
and  of  methods,  to  qualify  himself  for  high  rank.  If  he  has  failed  in 
the  University  in  securing  this  broad  education,  it  is  essential  that  he 
must  get  it  after  he  leaves  the  University. 

How  to  make  the  University  course  more  comprehensive  is  a  prob- 
lem for  the  professors  to  solve.  My  present  object  is  to  prove  to 
them  that  the  problem  exists.  If  I  can  do  this,  and  obtain  from  them 
an  admission  of  the  necessity  for  broadening  the  course  of  instruction, 
they  will  find  a  way  to  do  it.  This  necessity  is  impressed  upon  me 
by  observation  of  their  graduates.  These  graduates  look  for  employ- 
ment in  the  lines  of  work  in  which  they  are  most  interested.  They 
remember  their  favorite  study  under  the  influence  of  the  professor 
whom  they  personally  admired,  and  they  desire,  if  possible,  to  follow 
in  practice  the  lines  upon  which  their  minds  were  trained  in  the  Uni- 
versity. They  begin  as  specialists  and  continue  as  such.  This  is  com- 
mendable within  certain  limits,  for  the  range  of  engineering  work  is 
so  extended  that  it  is  necessary  to  specialize  in  practice.  The  objec- 


156  THE  PRACTICAL  ENGINEER. 

tion  to  it  is  that  the  engineer's  mind  seems  to  be  closed  against 
other  specialties.  I  have  known  a  man  of  talent,  a  graduate  civil  en- 
gineer, who  was  employed  on  stress  diagrams  for  truss  bridges  until 
he  seemed  to  be  impressed  with  the  idea  that  the  making  of  these  dia- 
grams was  the  sum  and  substance  of  engineering.  The  same  effect 
may  be  noticed  in  men  employed  in  other  lines  of  work.  The  young 
engineer  does  not  as  a  rule  grasp  the  opportunities  which  are  ahead  of 
him.  He  may  have  a  remote  idea  that  some  day  he  will  be  a  chief 
engineer,  that  great  works  will  be  under  his  charge,  that  important 
questions  will  be  submitted  to  him  for  decision,  that  he  will  be  called 
upon  to  plan  great  structures  and  to  solve  large  problems;  but  just 
how  these  honors  will  come  to  him  he  does  not  know.  His  mind  does 
not  go  much  farther  than  to  think  that  they  will  come  to  him  when  he 
gets  older.  He  should  keep  these  things  before  his  mind,  and  work 
toward  them,  remembering  that  they  come  as  rewards  for  those  who 
have  shown  themselves  competent  to  receive  them.  He  should  con- 
tinually work  and  study  with  the  determination  to  earn  these  prizes, 
and  he  should  remember  that  each  day's  work  is  a  step  in  that  direc- 
tion. If  he  qualifies  himself  for  advancement,  he  will  find  that  advanced 
positions  are  inviting  him  to  appropriate  them.  He  must  be  broad 
to  comprehend  and  secure  these  advancements.  If  he  is  content  merely 
to  practice  those  things  which  have  been  taught  him,  and  to  secure  the 
results  which  he  had  been  taught  that  computations  and  processes  will 
bring,  and  to  rest  satisfied  there,  feeling  that  in  this  he  has  done  his 
duty,  he  will  be  what  may  be  called  a  Journeyman  Engineer,  and  he  will 
not  secure  this  advancement,  neither  will  he  be  entitled  to  it.  There 
are  certain  qualities  of  mind  which  young  engineers  do  not  possess, 
because  they  have  not  learned  them.  One  of  these  is  the  quality  of 
discrimination;  the  ability  to  determine  between  right  and  wrong,  good 
and  bad;  what  should  be  rejected,  what  is  acceptable;  and  what  is  to  be 
desired  and  striven  for.  In  other  words,  an  engineer  is  not  fitted  for 
high  position  unless  he  is  judicious.  When  a  man  is  working  for  his 
monthly  stipend,  with  certain  fixed  duties,  or  under  the  direct  orders  of 
a  superior,  it  is  hard  for  him  to  realize  the  value  of  a  judicial  mind  and 
to  train  himself  for  judicious  conduct.  In  a  subordinate  position  he 
cannot  appreciate  the  judicial  requirements  for  an  engineer  who  is 
sufficiently  advanced  to  be  in  charge  of  work,  and  especially  to  be  re- 
sponsible for  great  undertakings.  As  he  rises  in  the  scale  of  rank  he 
is  more  and  more  of  a  judge  with  each  degree  of  advancement;  a  judge 
of  materials,  of  processes,  of  expedients,  of  the  qualities  of  his  fellow 
men  and  of  their  abilities  to  do  certain  things;  a  judge  of  general 
effects,  and  a  judge  of  right  relations.  The  judicial  faculty  is  frequent- 


BATES.  157 

ly  the  most  important  of  any  which  is  possessed  by  the  engineer  at 
the  top.  This  quality,  and  the  ability  to  obtain  results  through  judicious 
decisions,  may  to  some  extent  be  inherent  in  a  man,  but  to  a  far  greater 
extent  it  is  the  result  of  study  and  practice.  This  is  one  of  the  quali- 
ties which  I  should  like  as  far  as  possible  to  be  instilled  into  the  en- 
gineer while  he  is  at  the  University.  It  is  your  duty,  young  men,  to 
consider  all  of  the  steps  between  your  present  position  and  one  at  the 
head  of  the  profession,  and  to  train  yourselves  continually  with  the 
purpose  of  making  the  latter  place  your  final  destination.  Look  up 
and  climb;  the  way  is  as  open  to  you  as  to  others.  There  is  no  royal 
road  to  success  for  an  engineer.  The  way  is  open  to  each  one  of  you, 
and  your  success  will  depend  more  upon  yourselves  than  upon  all 
other  influences  combined.  While  I  tell  you  to  look  high  and  strive 
for  a  place  at  the  top,  let  me  caution  you  that  it  is  not  to  be  obtained 
by  going  too  fast.  You  may  make  a  mistake  in  failing  to  consider  that 
great  rewards  will  be  yours  if  you  earn  them,  and  you  are  equally  liable 
to  make  a  mistake  in  assuming  that  you  will  get  them  without  earning 
them.  Success  means  an  improvement  at  each  step.  You  cannot  skip 
any  of  the  steps;  you  must  be  thorough  in  everything  you  do.  You 
must  be  reliable  in  small  as  well  as  in  large  trusts.  There  is  no 
quality  so  much  appreciated  by  those  who  have  need  of  your  services, 
and  who  are  in  a  position  to  promote  your  advancement,  which  is  as 
much  valued  as  the  quality  of  reliability.  If  you  leave  any  gaps  behind 
in  your  progress  upward,  they  may  at  some  inopportune  time  be  a 
snare  to  you ;  for  when  you  look  backward  for  the  supplies  which  you 
are  depending  to  be  furnished  over  the  road  of  your  past  experience, 
they  may  be  wrecked  in  the  gap  which  you  have  left,  and  you  may 
find  that  you  have  reached  the  limit  of  your  advancement.  In  past 
times  men  have  attained  distinction  as  engineers  who  had  no  college 
education,  and  very  little  school  education  of  any  kind.  Some  of  our 
oldest  and  most  respected  practitioners  belong  to  that  class.  These 
same  men,  however,  could  not  start  over  and  succeed  under  existing 
conditions.  They  have  the  experience  which  enables  them  to  employ 
men  of  better  education  than  they  received,  and  are  respected  on  ac- 
count of  what  they  have  done;  but  their  class  is  rapidly  dying  off.  At 
the  present  day  it  is  useless  for  any  one,  who  has  a  proper  ambition 
to  be  among  the  first  in  his  vocation,  to  attempt  the  engineering  pro- 
fession without  a  University  education.  Let  me  encourage  you  to 
strive  for  the  final  purpose  of  your  education,  and  let  me  congratulate 
you  on  the  great  opportunity  for  preparation  offered  you  in  this  Univer- 
sity. 

There  is  one  more  specification  in  the  charge  against  the  engineers 
of  a  narrowness  of  vision,  and  it  is  this,  that  those  of  us  who  are 


158  THE  PRACTICAL  ENGINEER. 

zealous,  over-estimate  the  value  of  the  profession.  I  would  not,  for 
one  moment,  say  that  we  should  not  work  as  hard  as  we  do,  nor 
strive  as  much  as  we  do  for  great  results  and  for  honorable  position; 
but  let  us  not  forget  there  are  other  things  beside  our  profession.  I 
love  to  think  of  the  engineer's  profession  as  a  manly  one;  and  yet  there 
are  claims  on  our  manhood  which  take  precedence  of  the  profession. 
First  of  all  we  must  remember  what  is  due  to  our  families,  and  then 
come  our  duties  as  citizens;  then  our  duties  to  our  fellow  men,  and 
among  these  is  our  special  duty  to  our  brethren  in  the  profession. 
If  we  are  determined  to  broaden  ourselves  we  must  associate  with  other 
people,  and  become  integral  parts  of  the  community.  We  should 
engage  in  all  sorts  of  good  works,  and  we  should  not  neglect  an  in- 
terest in  politics.  Take  for  an  example  of  an  engineer's  delinquency, 
the  performance  of  his  political  duties.  In  so  far  as  I  know,  most 
engineers  do  not  even  vote.  Possibly  they  do  not  know  the  names  of 
the  candidates;  or  if  they  do  know  their  names,  they  may  not  be  aware 
of  their  principles  and  policies.  If  all  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack 
a  dull  boy,  then  by  analogy  the  giving  up  of  ourselves  wholly  to  the 
practice  of  engineering  makes  us  narrow  men,  and  limits  our  engineer- 
ing opportunities.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  an  engineer  should 
not  cultivate  and  enjoy  the  society  of  his  fellow  men.  As  a  side  issue, 
to  counteract  the  narrowing  tendency  of  his  exact  and  exacting  occu- 
pation, he  should  stroll  in  the  fields  of  literature  and  art  and  general 
science.  He  ought  to  be  familiar  with  the  libraries,  the  museums,  and 
the  art  galleries  to  which  he  has  access.  He  should  read  the  best  of 
current  literature,  and  should  acquaint  himself  with  history.  He 
should  study  nature  and  learn  its  great  lessons  at  first  hand.  He 
should  improve  his  mind  by  taking  care  of  his  body;  and  healthful 
exercise,  with  friendly  rivalry  in  active  sports,  is  good  preparation 
for  professional  work — all  this  of  course  within  reasonable  limits.  If 
he  plays  golf,  it  is  not  required  that  he  shall  be  a  golf  fanatic;  and  if 
it  is  foot-ball,  he  can  afford  to  stop  short  of  maiming  his  opponents. 
To  be  broad  he  must  avoid  extremes  in  all  things.  The  setting  of 
one's  profession  on  a  pinnacle,  to  be  worshipped  as  the  only  real  object 
in  life,  is  unwholesome,  and  it  defeats  its  own  ends.  Engineers  should 
be  seen  at  other  places  than  at  a  desk,  or  leaning  over  a  drawing  board, 
or  squinting  through  an  instrument.  They  ought  to  be  found  where 
their  fellow  citizens  congregate  for  any  purpose  affecting  the  common 
good,  and  they  should  take  their  part  in  such  meetings. 

They  should  be  interested  in  charity  and  philanthrophy  and  should 
have  their  share  with  others  in  movements  for  promoting  the  health 
and  happiness  of  mankind. 


SOME  RELATIONS  OF  THE  ENGINEER  TO  SOCIETY. 

"•'•'  ">;^:  '     \          By  •       '         :; 

Colonel  H.  G.  Prout. 

The  author  of  this  address  is  one  of  America's  most  prominent 
engineers.  In  his  younger  days  he  served  with  distinction  in  the 
Egyptian  army,  where  he  attained  the  rank  of  Colonel.  For  many 
years  he  edited  the  Railroad  Gazette,  returning,  however,  from  his 
editorial  work  to  active  professional  practice. 

A  careful  perusal  of  this  scholarly  paper  must  give  to  the  reader 
some  conception  of  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  engineering 
profession;  and  it  should  also  arouse  the  enthusiasm  of  engineering 
students  and  encourage  them  to  do  their  utmost  to  become  worthy 
members  of  that  profession.  The  Editors  recommend  their  readers  to 
purchase  and  read  the  book  mentioned  by  Col.  Prout  entitled  "The 
New  Epoch  as  Developed  by  the  Manufacturer  of  Power"  by  the  late 
George  Shattuck  Morison,  C.  E.,  for  it  is  one  of  the  great  master- 
pieces of  engineering  literature.  Being  a  copyrighted  book,  it  was  not 
practicable  to  reproduce  it  in  this  series  of  addresses. 

Editors. 


159 


SOME  RELATIONS  OF  THE  ENGINEER  TO  SOCIETY* 

By 
Colonel  H.  G.  Prout. 

In  the  summer  of  1903  an  eminent  engineer  died  in  New  York,  Mr. 
George  Shattuck  Morison.  He  was  a  man  of  broad  education  and  of 
a  powerful  mind  and  illustrious  achievement.  Like  most  engineers  he 
wrote  but  little,  but  he  left  behind  him  a  manuscript  which  was  after- 
wards printed  in  a  book  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  pages,  under  the 
title  of  "The  New  Epoch  as  Developed  by  the  Manufacture  of  Power." 
You  can  read  it  easily  in  two  hours,  but  it  sums  up  much  of  the  read- 
ing and  meditation  of  a  vigorous  and  intellectual  life. 

Mr.  Morison  reminds  us  that  students  have  recognized  certain 
great  ethnical  epochs  in  the  progress  of  mankind.  The  use  of  fire  first 
lifted  man  out  of  the  condition  of  the  animals  around  him;  then  came 
the  use  of  the  bow  and  arrow  which  further  established  his  superiority. 
The  next  great  step  was  the  use  of  pottery,  and  man  passed  from 
savagery  to  barbarism.  The  domestication  of  animals  and  the  manu- 
facture of  iron  marked  two  more  eras  in  the  development  of  the  race. 
Finally  came  the  use  of  the  written  alphabet,  the  greatest  and  most 
useful  of  all  human  inventions,  by  which  knowledge  could  be  preserved 
and  distributed.  Progress  thus  became  continuous  and  great  masses 
of  mankind  were  enabled  to  advance  simultaneously  along  the  same 
lines.  This  was  the  step  from  barbarism  to  civilization,  and  there  the 
ethnical  periods  are  considered  to  have  closed.  What  has  followed  is 
assumed  to  be  but  the  natural  advance  of  civilization.  But  Mr.  Morison 
thinks  that  there  is  no  apparent  reason  why  other  epochs  should  not 
come,  just  as  distinct  and  just  as  important  as  either  of  the  six  which 
are  behind  us.  It  but  needed  the  discovery  or  the  development  of  a 
new  capacity  to  make  a  new  epoch,  and  such  a  new  capacity  came 
with  the  manufacture  of  power.  By  the  development  of  the  manufac- 
ture of  power  man's  capacity  is  suddenly  increased  beyond  any  limit 
which  the  human  mind  can  forsee  or  imagine.  The  strength  of  man  or. 
the  strength  of  animals  no  longer  sets  a  boundary  to  the  capacity  to  do 


*An  address  delivered  at  New  Haven  in  the  Sheffield  Lecture  Course, 
February,  1905;  at  Ithaca  at  the  First  Annual  Reunion  of  Civil  Engineering 
Alumni  of  Cornell  University,  June,  1905;  at  Wilkmsburg  before  The  Elec- 
tric Club,  November,  1905. 


161 


162  THE  ENGINEER  AND  SOCIETY. 

work.  Forms  of  matter  are  changed,  and  the  forces  of  nature  are 
set  to  do  our  bidding,  and  we  can  see  no  stopping  place  in  this  pro- 
cess. The  power  of  man  to  do  useful  work  has  been  multiplied  in 
the  last  century  beyond  all  computation  or  imagining.  In  the  last  one 
hundred  years  man's  productive  capacity  has  probably  advanced  more 
than  in  all  the  preceding  years  that  he  had  inhabited  this  planet,  and 
the  revolution  wrought  by  the  development  of  the  capacity  to  manufac- 
ture power  has  just  begun ;  the  door  has  just  opened. 

I  think  it  was  Mr.  John  R.  Freeman  who  estimated  that  in  one 
oyage  across  the  Atlantic  a  steamship  develops  as  much  power  as 
was  developed  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  working  through 
decades  of  time  to  build  the  great  pyramid;  but  the  biggest  ocean  ship 
is  small  compared  with  the  great  power  factories  which  we  can  see  all 
around  us,  and  this  power  is  delivered  in  our  houses  and  in  our  shops 
and  on  our  railroad  tracks,  to  the  immense  saving  of  time  and  energy. 
It  would  interest  you  to  try  to  compute  the  human  effort  saved  by  the 
mere  fact  that  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  maids  and  housewives 
draw  water  from  spigots,  where  it  is  delivered  from  steam  pumps,  in- 
stead of  going  to  wells.  How  can  we  measure  the  effect  on  human 
society  of  the  fact  that  two  men  in  a  locomotive  cab  haul  two  thousand 
tons  of  goods  or  five  hundred  passengers  across  half  a  continent  at 
forty  miles  an  hour,  or  of  the  fact  that  every  steam  hammer  in  a  forge 
shop  does  the  work  of  a  dozen  men,  and  does  it  better? 

While  the  capacity  of  man  to  do  accustomed  things  has  been  mul- 
tiplied, he  has  been  empowered  to  do  things  that  he  could  not  have 
done  before.  The  steel  forgings  that  are  made  now  could  not  have 
been  made  at  all  by  man-power  or  animal-power.  Manufactured  power 
was  necessary  to  the  production  of  the  great  structures  of  to-day — the 
ships,  the  guns,  the  bridges,  the  great  engines  in  the  power  houses,  the 
tall  buildings  in  the  cities.  Perhaps  there  are  those  now  before  me 
who  doubt  if  human  happiness  has  been  increased  by  the  mere  capacity 
to  produce  big  things.  You  will  remember  Ruskin's  ideal  society,  with 
the  happy  peasant  in  a  velvet  jacket  singing  in  the  fields,  the  heavens 
unpolluted  by  the  smoke  of  mills  and  the  air  unvexed  by  the  noise  of 
railroads.  Not  long  ago  a  professor  in  a  neighboring  great  university 
maintained  with  some  heat  the  superiority  of  the  Greek  civilization, 
when  the  mass  of  the  people  lived  in  squalor  and  built  Parthenons,  as 
compared  with  our  civilization  when  the  mass  of  the  people  are  more 
sure  of  food  and  clothes  and  fuel,  and  build  ugly  steel  frame  Masonic 
Temples.  We  cannot  stop  here  to  discuss  the  relative  value  of  civili- 
zations, but  I  make  bold  to  believe  that  the  average  of  human  happiness 
was  never  so  high  as  now. 


PROUT.  163 

The  examples  which  I  have  cited  only  suggest  the  amount  of  human 
effort  that  has  been  set  free  by  the  manufacture  of  power.  My  imagi- 
nation is  unequal  to  the  task  of  giving  you  more  than  a  hint  of  the 
change  in  man's  condition  which  has  just  begun,  and  even  to-day  the 
manufacture  of  power,  an  art  a  little  more  than  a  century  old,  is  in 
process  of  evolution.  The  prime  mover  of  yesterday  will  not  be  the 
prime  mover  of  to-morrow.  Our  methods  of  using  the  stored  heat 
energy  of  the  sun  to-day  will  be  history  twenty-five  years  from  now. 

It  is  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  since  Watt  made  the 
reciprocating  steam  engine  a  thing  of  actual  use,  and  fairly  began  the 
era  of  manufactured  power.  Already  the  reciprocating  steam  engine 
is  doomed,  except  for  certain  special  uses.  The  development  of  the 
transmission  of  power  by  electricity  has  made  it  possible  to  use  the 
high  efficiency  of  the  steam  turbine,  and  the  use  of  turbo-generators  is 
even  now  large  and  spreading  fast.  But  the  turbine  is  only  a  step. 
Its  successor  is  already  foreshadowed  in  the  gas  engine.  Side  by  side 
with  these  changes  in  the  type  of  prime  mover  advances  the  art  of 
transmitting  and  using  power  by  electricity;  and  so  swiftly  does  the  art 
advance  that  now  the  day  seems  close  at  hand  when  we  may  .see  short 
but  important  lines  of  steam  railroad  of  heavy  traffic  converted  to 
electric  working.  The  power  houses  will  be  equipped  with  steam  tur- 
bines or  with  gas  engines.  Alternating  current  will  be  sent  out  over 
long  transmission  lines  and  stepped  down  and  used  in  the  car  motors 
without  converting.  Two  great  things  will  be  accomplished.  Working 
cost  will  be  reduced  and  the  public  will  have  more  frequent,  cheaper, 
and  perhaps  swifter  service. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  great  engineering  changes  now  visible  over 
the  horizon.  If  we  had  time  we  might  speak  of  others  in  the  fields 
of  transportation,  of  sanitation,  and  of  manufacture,  which  will  possibly 
have  even  more  effect  on  the  wealth  and  happiness  of  man  than  those 
which  I  have  mentioned.  For  instance,  who  can  forsee  the  effect 
of  countless  small  improvements  in  manufacture  which  are  flowing 
from  the  swift  development  of  mechanical,  electrical,  and  chemical 
knowledge  and  skill?  And  perhaps  even  greater  results  will  flow  from 
improved  sanitation  saving  present  waste  of  human  energy.  And  these 
changes  are  close  at  hand. 

We  may  reasonably  suppose  that  twenty-five  years  from  now, 
when  many  of  the  young  men  now  sitting  before  me  are  in  the  full 
tide  of  their  useful  work,  these  United  States  will  have  a  population 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  million.  That  will  be  more  than  the  pre- 
sent population  of  the  United  Kingdom  and  France  and  half  of  Ger- 
many combined.  It  will  be  a  free  and  homogeneous  population,  more 


164  THE  ENGINEER  AND  SOCIETY. 

efficiently  educated  than  any  people  the  world  has  even  seen.  It  will 
be  a  population  of  singular  daring  and  enterprise,  this  for  two  great 
reasons.  For  ten  generations  the  Americans  have  lived  under  condi- 
tions to  develop  courage  and  enterprise;  and  the  immigrants  coming  to 
our  shores  must  be,  generally  speaking,  class  for  class,  more  courage- 
ous and  enterprising  than  those  whom  they  have  left  behind  or  they 
would  not  have  come.  This  population,  so  vast  in  numbers,  so  effi- 
ciently educated,  so  courageous  and  enterprising,  and  so  free  to  work, 
each  man  in  his  own  way,  will  be  seated  in  a  temperate  climate,  amongst 
unrivalled  resources  of  soil  and  mine,  in  a  country  intersected  by  great 
natural  waterways  and  covered  with  a  net  work  of  railroads  and  with 
a  vast  coast  line  on  the  two  great  oceans.  Put  into  the  hands  of  such 
a  people,  so  situated,  the  means  for  the  manufacture  of  power  and 
their  influence  on  the  world,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,  may  be 
greater  than  the  influence  of  the  men  who  built  the  Roman  Empire, 
greater  than  the  influence  up  to  this  time  of  the  race  which  built  the 
empire  of  the  English-speaking  people.  What  a  glorious  thing  it  is  to 
be  a  young  American  at  the  dawn  of  the  new  epoch ! 

These  matters  of  which  I  have  just  been  speaking  are  impor- 
tant. They  are  occupying  much  of  the  best  intelligence  of  the  world. 
They  are  pursued  with  most  admirable  enthusiasm  and  devotion.  But 
regarded  in  a  broader  way  they  are  only  incidents  in  the  general  for- 
ward movement  of  the  new  epoch.  Not  only  have  we  entered  on 
another  ethnical  period,  but  upon  the  most  important  period  in  the 
progress  of  mankind.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  a  thousand  years 
from  now  men  may  look  back  to  the  19th  and  20th  centuries  as  the  most 
significant  period  in  the  history  of  the  race. 

Perhaps  you  begin  to  wonder  where  I  am  coming  out,  perhaps 
you  are  already  asking  what  all  this  has  to  do  with  the  announced  sub- 
ject of  my  lecture — "Some  Relations  of  the  Engineer  to  Society." 

My  proposition  is  that  the  engineer,  more  than  all  other  men,  has 
created  this  new  epoch  and  that  the  engineer,  more  than  all  other  men, 
will  guide  humanity  forward  until  we  come  to  some  other  period  of  a 
different  kind.  On  the  engineer  and  on  those  who  are  making  engi- 
neers rests  a  responsibility  such  as  men  have  never  before  been  called 
upon  to  face;  for  it  is  a  peculiarity  of  this  new  epoch  that  we  are 
conscious  of  it,  that  we  know  what  we  are  doing,  which  was  not  true 
in  either  of  the  six  preceding  epochs,  and  we  have  upon  us  the  respon- 
sibility of  conscious  knowledge. 

If  we  are  right  in  the  notion  that  the  manufacture  of  power  has 
brought  mankind  into  a  new  ethnical  period;  if  we  are  right  in  the 
notion  that  the  engineer  is  the  man  who  beyond  all  other  men  has 


PROJJT.  165 

created  the  new  conditions  and  who  must  beyond  all  other  men  carry 
them  forward  in  their  development,  then  we  are  face  to  face  with  cer- 
tain facts  of  tremendous  importance  to  two  classes  of  our  fellow  citi- 
zens: First,  to  those  who  are  responsible  for  the  training  of  youth 
for  their  work  in  the  world ;  and,  second,  to  those  young  men  who 
have  chosen  engineering  as  their  profession. 

The  same  events  and  conditions  which  have  created  the  new  epoch 
have  affected  the  plans  of  education,  and,  so  far  as  I  am  qualified  to 
judge,  those  who  are  training  the  young  men  who  are  to  guide  the 
human  race  in  the  next  few  decades  are  working  forward  in  the  right 
direction.  It  is  obvious  that  our  aim  must  always  be  to  acquire  a  more 
complete  and  perfect  knowledge  of  the  forces  of  nature,  and  to  this  end 
we  must  have  mathematics.  Years  ago  Prof.  Bartlett,  in  the  introduc- 
tion to  one  of  his  remarkable  books,  said  that  the  man  who  is  endowed 
with  the  priceless  boon  of  a  copious  mathematics  possesses  the  key  to 
the  external  universe.  It  is  my  observation  of  a  good  many  young 
men  starting  as  engineers  that  their  mathematical  training  is  defective. 
Instead  of  holding  a  key  they  have  a  feeble  grasp  on  something  as  vague 
as  fog;  they  have  not  been  trained  to  use  their  mathematics  as  a  tool 
for  investigation,  or  for  analysis,  or  for  conclusive  reasoning.  Perhaps 
we  may  attribute  this  partly  to  the  survival  down  to  this  day  of  Plato's 
notion  that  geometry  is  degraded  by  being  applied  to  any  purposes  of 
vulgar  utility. 

Close  to  this  is  physics.  A  command  of  those  facts  and  laws 
which  we  roughly  group  under  the  head  of  physics  is  more  important 
than  a  command  of  mathematics.  A  mere  mathematician  cannot  be 
an  engineer,  but  a  man  can  be  an  engineer  with  limited  mathematics 
if  he  has  a  working  conception  of  the  laws  of  physics.  My  favorite 
test  of  the  intellectual  power  of  a  boy  is  to  ask  how  he  stands  in  physics. 
A  high  stand  there  is  a  pretty  certain  indication  of  imagination,  of 
power  to  analyze  and  of  capacity  to  reason. 

Command  of  the  forces  of  nature  requires  besides  mathematics 
and  physics  a  specific  knowledge  of  those  branches  of  learning  which 
we  call  the  natural  sciences.  The  relative  importance  of  any  one  of 
these  to  any  one  man  must  depend  upon  the  kind  of  work  which  he 
intends  to  do,  but  some  knowledge  of  almost  all  of  the  natural  sciences 
is  important  to  the  engineer,  and  a  large  and  definite  knowledge  of 
some  of  them  is  necessary. 

But  mathematics  and  physics  and  the  natural  sciences  are  not 
the  end.  If  an  engineer  is  to  go  far,  he  must  have  some  of  those 
studies  which  give  him  broad  and  just  ideas  of  the  relations  of  man 
to  man  and  of  man  to  society. 


166  THE  ENGINEER  AND  SOCIETY. 

The  duties  of  my  life  bring  me  into  daily  contact  with  large  in- 
dustrial and  commercial  interests  employing  many  men,  and  I  may  say  in 
all  sincerity,  and  with  due  regard  to  the  meaning  of  my  words,  that 
it  is  far  easier  to  hire  engineers  than  it  is  to  hire  men. 

It  is  my  constant  observation  of  four  engineering  works,  employ- 
ing about  20,000  men,  that  engineers  reach  the  limit  of  their  useful- 
ness from  defects  of  character,  rather  than  from  want  of  technical 
attainments.  Our  greatest  difficulty  is  to  find  courage,  candor,  imagi- 
nation, large  vision,  and  high  ambition.  I  do  not  know  which  of  these 
qualities  is  most  often  lacking,  or  which  is  most  essential.  The  lack 
of  courage  and  candor  comes  most  often  to  my  notice,  but  the  lack  of 
imagination  and  of  broad  outlook  produces  the  most  serious  disasters. 
All  of  these  things  an  engineer  must  have  if  he  is  to  go  far,  and 
all  of  these  any  citizen  must  have  if  he  is  to  go  far  in  the  work  of 
life.  Our  scheme  of  education  will  be  radically  defective  if  it  does  not 
provide  for  the  development  of  courage  and  candor,  of  imagination  and 
broad  vision  and  high  ambition.  Our  scheme  of  education  of  the 
engineer  and  the  citizen  must  also  teach  our  youth  something  of  the 
large  mistakes  of  men  and  nations  in  the  past  and  something  of  their 
successes.  Lacking  that  teaching  we  see  the  farmer  in  Texas  and  the 
third  rate  lawyer  in  Congress  and  the  professional  friend  of  mankind 
in  Nebraska  re-inventing  ancient  errors  and  diverting  valuable  energy 
from  the  useful  purpose  of  hoeing  corn.  It  is  not  for  me,  not  even  an 
amateur  in  education,  to  say  how  these  things  should  be  reached,  but 
I  venture  a  suggestion. 

Scientific  study  may  be  in  itself  a  great  expander  of  the  imagi- 
nation. You  will  remember  that  Prof.  Shaler  wrote  five  dramas  in 
blank  verse  to  prove  this.  I  am  not  competent  to  judge  of  his  demon- 
stration, but  at  least  I  venture  the  assertion  that  the  study  of  chemistry 
or  of  biology,  of  machine  design  or  of  analytical  geometry,  of  geology 
and  astronomy,  is  as  quickening  to  the  imagination  as  the  study  of 
Greek  or  Latin  grammar,  of  moral  philosophy  or  of  rhetoric,  or  as  a 
formal  and  routine  study  of  English  literature.  The  result  is  mostly 
dependent  on  the  teacher  and  not  on  the  thing  taught.  The  quickening 
influence  is  the  human  influence. 

This  brings  me  to  another  suggestion.  Gordon  used  to  say  that 
it  would  be  better  if  the  young  British  officers  were  made  to  read 
Plutarch's  Lives.  "There  we  see  men  of  no  true  belief,  men  who  are  pure 
pagans  making  their  lives  a  sacrifice  as  a  matter  of  course.  In  our 
day  it  is  highest  merit  not  to  run  away."  This  is  a  fertile  suggestion 
under  which  lies  a  truth  of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  scheme  of 
education.  At  this  moment  we  may  see  Plutarch's  men  fighting  for 


PROUT.  167 

their  country  on  the  other  side  of  the  world  and  showing  noble  devo- 
tion and  a  lofty  idealism,  because  for  centuries  and  centuries  great 
ideals  have  been  held  always  before  them.  Admiral  Togo's  little  ad- 
dress to  the  spirits  of  the  dead  the  other  day  in  Tokio  was  a  noble 
inspiration  to  the  youth  of  his  nation.  It  had  the  very  spirit  which 
made  Plutarch's  men  immortal.  The  essential  thing  is  to  bring  youth 
into  habitual  and  constant  contact  with  great  men  and  great  ideas  and 
great  deeds.  Make  them  read  Huxley's  Life  and  Letters  and  Lord 
Robert's  Forty-one  Years  in  India  and  Grant's  Memoirs.  Or,  per- 
haps better  than  any  of  these,  let  them  read  deeply  in  the  story  of 
Lincoln's  life.  There  they  will  find  the  simple  foundation  qualities, 
love  of  truth,  courage,  patience,  and  fortitude,  tenacity  and  devotion, 
working  in  great  fields  of  effort.  If  these  examples  do  not  stir  a 
young  man,  you  had  better  let  him  go  quietly  back  to  hoeing  corn. 
He  may  make  a  useful  man  and  a  necessary  man,  but  he  cannot  make 
a  great  man  or  even  a  big  man.  Huxley  has  said  that  the  progress  of 
mankind  has  been  through  the  production  of  men  of  genius;  but  society 
cannot  deliberately  and  consciously  produce  men  of  genius.  They  are 
the  rare  fruit  of  a  thousand  uncontrollable  conditions,  'but  we  can 
deliberately  and  consciously  develop  leaders,  and  the  affairs  of  men 
have  never  called  for  leaders  so  loudly  as  now. 

I  said  a  while  ago  that  we  are  face  to  face  with  certain  facts  of 
tremendous  importance  to  those  who  are  training  young  men  for 
engineering,  and  to  those  who  have  chosen  engineering  as  their  pro- 
fession. I  have  suggested  a  few  considerations,  more  particularly  for 
those  who  are  educating  the  young  engineer,  and  now  let  us  turn  to 
the  engineer  himself. 

It  is  my  proposition  that  the  engineer  more  than  any  other  man 
has  brought  about  the  new  epoch  which  we  have  now  entered  upon 
and  that  he  more  than  any  other  man  is  to  lead  mankind  forward  in 
the  next  century  or  two.  But  who  is  this  engineer  to  whom  we  as- 
sign such  a  place  in  human  progress?  What  is  engineering?  These 
claims,  so  broad  as  to  seem  extravagant,  must  rest  on  a  broad  founda- 
tion. 

You  will  have  observed  that  of  the  six  great  forward  steps  taken 
by  the  human  race  as  a  race,  five  were  enlargement  of  his  physical 
powers  and  improvements  in  his  material  welfare,  through  conquests 
over  the  forces  of  nature,  and  the  sixth  of  these  great  steps  worked 
for  his  advancement  by  enabling  him  to  preserve  and  distribute  know- 
ledge. Even  that  step  probably  had  its  greatest  value  in  hastening 
the  conquest  of  nature.  So  we  must  not  be  surprised  to  discover  that 
progress  is  through  knowledge  of  a  material  universe. 


168  THE  ENGINEER  AND  SOCIETY. 

Some  eighty  years  ago  Tredgold  made  that  famous  definition  of 
engineering  which  has  never  been  improved  upon.  It  is  the  art  of 
directing  the  great  sources  of  power  in  nature  to  the  use  and  con- 
venience of  man.  Broadly  this  definition  must  include  the  physicist, 
the  chemist,  the  biologist,  the  geologist,  and  the  metallurgist,  for  they 
discover  those  laws  and  properties  of  matter  in  the  knowledge  of  which 
the  engineer  must  work.  Narrowly  the  engineer  is  one  who,  having 
knowledge  of  the  laws  and  properties  of  matter,  designs  and  constructs. 
The  primitive  engineer,  the  man  who  had  that  instinctive  feeling  for 
the  forces  of  nature  and  for  the  properties  of  matter,  and  that  quality 
of  contrivance  which  must  be  born  in  a  man  if  he  is  to  be  an  engineer 
at  all,  taught  his  fellow  savages  to  use  fire,  to  use  bows  and  arrows, 
and  to  make  pottery.  Then  he  taught  his  fellow  barbarians  to  use 
the  strength  of  the  larger  animals  and  to  smelt  and  forge  iron.  Just 
so  the  modern  engineer  using  the  same .  heaven-sent  qualities  is  carry- 
ing forward  the  conquest  of  nature  until  he  has  brought  us  into  this 
last  and  greatest  era,  the  era  of  the  manufacture  of  power. 

I  shall  not  stop  to  name  his  doings,  they  are  written  across  the 
face  of  the  earth.  You  remember  what  Carlyle  says  of  the  English 
"Of  all  nations  the  English  are  the  stupidest  in  speech,  the  wisest  in 
action.  Thy  epic,  unsung  in  words  is  written  in  huge  characters  on 
the  face  of  this  planet — Sea-moles,  railways,  fleets  and  cities,  Indian 
Empires,  America,  legible  throughout  the  solar  system,  England  her 
mark."  Such,  too,  is  the  epic  of  the  engineer  written  in  railways, 
canals  and  bridges,  in  fleets  and  harbors,  in  water  works,  roads  and 
parks,  and  finally  in  the  great  ultimate  struggles  of  mankind  on  the 
battle  field  to  save  and  destroy  nations.  There,  too,  the  engineer  writes 
his  tragic  poetry.  You  never  thought  of  him  as  a  poet,  did  you,  and 
yet  in  the  last  one  hundred  years  the  highest  expressions  of  the  creative 
imagination  have  been  in  the  work  of  the  engineer. 

A  few  years  ago  Mr.  Abram  S.  Hewitt  said  that  Sir  Henry  Bes- 
semer had  done  more  than  any  other  man  of  his  time  to  destroy  the 
power  of  the  privileged  classes  in  Great  Britain,  that  he  was  the  great 
apostle  of  democracy.  Bessemer's  service  to  mankind  was  to  lower 
the  cost  and  increase  the  quantity  of  steel  and  so  make  possible  the 
enormous  development  of  transportation  in  the  last  half  of  the  last 
century,  which  has  changed  the  face  of  society,  and  I  do  not  believe  Mr. 
Hewitt  over-estimated  the  importance  of  Sir  Henry  Bessemer's  achieve- 
ment. The  wheat  that  makes  a  loaf  of  bread  is  carried  from  Dakota 
to  New  York  for  one-third  of  a  cent.  One  day's  wages  of  a  mechanic 
will  carry  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool  food  to  last  him  a  year.  Quick 
transportation  has  cut  the  peasant  loose  from  the  soil  of  his  little 


PROUT.  169 

parish  and  opened  the  markets  of  the  whole  world  for  the  labor  of  the 
artisan.  All  this  means  that  improvement  in  transportation  has  been 
one  of  the  powerful  forces  for  preserving  and  spreading  liberty.  Thus 
Bessemer  was  the  apostle  of  democracy.  The  engineer  has  made  life 
freer  and  easier,  he  has  helped  to  destroy  arbitrary  class  distinctions, 
and  he  has  prolonged  human  life. 

I  shall  not  dwell  longer  on  what  the  engineer  has  done.  I  wish 
especially  to  take  a  little  time  to  point  out  some  of  the  things  which 
he  is  about  to  do.  Bear  in  mind  that  in  what  I  shall  say  I  use  the 
term  "engineer"  in  its  broadest  sense  to  indicate  the  man  of  modern 
scientific  education  and  of  practical  contrivance.  Trained  in  daily  con- 
tact with  exact  and  inexorable  laws  he  is  becoming  more  and  more  a 
leader  in  large  affairs,  he  is  fast  taking  his  place  at  the  head,  and 
close  to  the  head,  of  the  great  industrial  concerns.  Mind  I  do  not 
say  that  he  will  displace  men  of  other  professions.  Men  bred  to  the 
law,  men  trained  in  business,  will  always  rise  to  the  top.  Superior  men 
will  make  their  way  to  command  through  many  different  avenues. 
What  I  do  mean  to  say  is  that  the  education  and  experience  of  an  en- 
gineer especially  fit  him  for  high  administrative  positions  not  now 
commonly  thought  of  as  engineering  work.  Carlyle  tells  us  that 
"Frederick  the  Great's  ambassadors  are  oftenest  soldiers.  Bred  sol- 
diers, he  finds,  if  they  happen  to  have  natural  intelligence,  are  the 
fittest  for  all  kinds  of  work."  In  Frederick's  time  engineering  as  a 
profession  did  not  exist.  Soldiering  came  nearest  to  it,  and  there  is 
great  likeness  in  the  work  of  the  engineer  and  the  soldier  and  in  the 
qualities  of  mind  and  character  developed  in  the  two  callings.  Both 
must  ascertain  physical  facts  without  mistake.  Both  must  analyze  and 
weigh  evidence  and  must  reason  correctly.  Both  must  deal  with  rela- 
tions of  time,  space,  force,  and  matter.  Both  must  handle  men  in 
action.  Both  must  have  the  restrained  and  disciplined  imagination  to 
project  clearly  conditions  and  results  which  they  cannot  see.  Both 
must  decide,  often  very  quickly,  knowing  that  on  the  decision  hangs 
success  or  failure.  But  this  is  the  training  which  makes  men  of 
action — leaders,  commanders.  No  doubt  you  will  agree  with  much 
that  I  have  just  said,  but  I  question  if  you  will  quite  appreciate  the 
gravity  of  the  sudden  emergency  work  which  comes  in  an  engineer's 
life.  Suppose  you  are  putting  down  a  deep  foundation  alongside  of  a 
twelve  story  building  in  New  York  City  and  the  quicksand  begins  to 
run  and  the  walls  of  the  big  building  to  crack.  The  peril  is  not  so 
pressing  as  the  peril  of  battle  for  you  can  stop  work  and  think.  But 
you  must  think  straight  and  act  right  or  you  will  cost  someone  a  lot  of 
money,  even  if  you  kill  no  one.  Suppose  you  are  putting  in  a  foun- 
dation for  a  bridge  pier  in  the  bottom  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  river 


170  THE  ENGINEER  AND  SOCIETY. 

bed  begins  to  scour  and  a  caisson  as  big  as  a  house  begins  to  tip  and 
to  move  down  stream.  A  great  deal  of  money  depends  on  what  you 
do  in  the  next  few  hours.  Suppose  you  are  putting  a  tunnel  under  the 
St.  Clair  river  and  the  compressed  air  begins  to  blow  out  through  a 
pocket  in  the  river  bed.  Here  is  an  affair  of  minutes,  and  of  life  as 
well  as  money.  These  very  things  have  happened  and  are  exactly  the 
things  that  come  as  a  matter  of  course  in  an  engineer's  life,  and  they 
are  met  by  just  the  same  qualities  of  courage  and  stored  up  skill  and 
emergency  judgment  that  you  must  have  ready  when  the  enemy  gets 
on  your  flank.  Beyond  all-  this  the  engineer  is  of  necessity  a  student 
of  costs  and  economics.  He  must  know  what  it  costs  to  move  a  yard 
of  earth  and  to  put  in  a  yard  of  concrete  and  why.  He  must  know 
what  it  costs  to  produce  a  horse  power.  He  has  been  defined  as  a 
man  who  can  do  well  for  a  dollar  what  any  man  can  do  somehow  for 
ten  dollars.  VBeneath  all  this  must  lie  sleepless  fidelity  to  his  trust. 

These  are  some  of  the  qualities  of  leadership,  obvious,  and  rec- 
ognized as  produced  in  the  contest  with  nature;  but  there  are  others, 
higher  ones,  not  so  obvious.  I  mean  the  qualities  of  moral  leader- 
ship. Probably  you  never  thought  of  the  engineer  as  a  moral  leader, 
and  yet  I  have  often  thought  and  said  that. in  a  knotty  case  of  applied 
morals  I  would  sooner  trust  an  engineer  than  any  other  man.  I  once 
said  this  to  that  famous  moralist,  the  late  Speaker  Reed.  It  was  ap- 
parently a  new  thought  to  him.  He  reflected  as  much  as  a  quarter  of 
a  minute,  which  was  a  long  time  for  him.  "Yes,"  he  said,  "I  guess 
you  are  right,  a  minister  has  no  sense  of  proportion  in  sin."  That 
thought  is  a  little  too  delicate  and  complicated  for  me  to  follow  further, 
but  the  lawyer  is  fair  game.  You  will  remember  the  saying  of  Macau- 
lay  on  this  matter.  "We  will  not  at  present  inquire  whether  it  be  right 
that  a  man  should,  with  a  wig  on  his  head,  and  a  band  around  his  neck, 
do  for  a  guinea  what,  without  these  appendages,  he  would  think  it 
wicked  and  infamous  to  do  for  an  empire;  whether  it  be  right  that, 
not  merely  believing  but  knowing  a  statement  to  be  true,  he  should 
do  all  that  can  be  done  by  sophistry,  by  rhetoric,  by  solemn  asserva- 
tion,  by  indignant  exclamation,  by  gesture,  by  play  of  features,  by 
terrifying  one  honest  witness,  by  perplexing  another,  to  cause  a  jury 
to  think  that  statement  false.  It  is  not  necessary  on  the  present  occa- 
sion to  decide  these  questions."  Nor  is  it  necessary  for  us  here  to  decide 
a  question  which  every  law  student  has  debated  over  and  again.  For 
my  present  purpose  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  daily  practice  of  a 
profession  concerning  which  such  questions  can  arise  puts  a  man  of 
weak  mind  or  weak  character  in  very  considerable  peril  of  becoming 
a  skillful  sophist  and  a  weak  moralist.  Even  in  the  daily  walks  of 


PROUT.  171 

business  there  is  frequent  temptation  to  obscure  the  truth.  But  the 
man  who  passes  his  life  in  contests  with  nature  is  not  apt  to  be  a 
sophist.  The  engineer  can  have  no  object  in  concealing  the  truth  or  ^> 
in  misusing  it.  His  work  is  a  material  fact ;  it  is  not  an  impression 
upon  the  minds  of  other  men.  No  trick  of  words,  no  art  of  speech, 
will  make  his  bridge  stand  up,  or  his  bearings  run  cool.  No  ingenuity 
of  argument,  no  power  of  rhetoric  will  save  one  ounce  of  coal  per 
horsepower-hour.  We  all  know  in  some  vague  and  abstract  way  that 
we  must  yoke  our  wagon  to  a  star,  but  the  engineer  must  do  it.  The 
law  which  guides  him  is  not  the  product  of  the  schools  and  the  courts, 
it  is  not  the  product  of  changing  standards  of  life  and  thought;  it  is  / 
the  eternal  law  of  natures  So  far  as  he  finds  it  and  follows  it  he  suc- 
ceeds ;  so  far  as  he  misses  it  he  fails,  and  there  is  no  escape  for  him. 
Nature  always  stands  watching  him,  neither  kind  nor  cruel,  but  per- 
fectly just- — swift,  inexorable,  and  inevitable — at  once  his  guide  and 
his  judge.  Who  else  of  all  mankind  has  a  discipline  so  fine?  Reward 
is  so  prompt,  punishment  is  so  swift  and  sure.  Emerson  has  said — 
"The  mind  that  is  parallel  with  'the  laws  of  Nature  will  be  strong  with 
their  strength." 

I  have  pointed  out  some  of  the  special  and  peculiar  qualifications 
of  the  engineer  for  leadership.  There  is  another  which  he  enjoys  in 
common  with  other  professions.  I  mean  that  which  we  may  call  the 
professional  spirit.  It  often  seems  to  me  that  some  of  the  great  dan- 
gers to  the  social  order  which  we  see  around  us  will  be  lessened,  not 
cured  but  lessened,  by  the  growth  of  the  influence  of  the  professional 
man  in  affairs.  We  are  worried  about  the  growth  of  corporate  power. 
I  don't  believe  that  corporations  are  worse  managed  than  they  used  to 
he,  but  they  are  bigger  and  stronger  and  we  hear  more  about  them, 
as  we  hear  more  about  most  things.  However  all  that  may  be,  we  shall 
not  change  human  nature  by  law,  and  corporate  nature  is  human 
nature.  I  see  much  good  to  come  from  the  growth  of  the  professional 
spirit  in  corporate  management.  The  professional  spirit  is  in  its  essence 
the  sense  of  trusteeship.  When  the  professional  man  takes  in  trust 
the  affairs  of  his  client  that  trust  becomes  more  binding  upon  him  than 
his  own  personal  interests.  I  am  often  amazed  when  I  think  of  the 
vital  force  of  this  professional  spirit  of  trusteeship.  I  am  often  aston- 
ished when  I  think  of  the  great  number  of  very  common-place  men 
who  work  along  year  by  year  with  sustained  devotion  to  a  true  stand- 
ard of  professional  duty.  It  confirms  my  faith  in  the  notion  that  the 
mass  of  mankind  like  to  do  their  duty  if  they  can  only  know  what  it 
is.  and  that  the  mass  of  mankind  desire  the  approbation  of  noble  minds. 
It  is  my  impression  that  the  true  professional  spirit  is  at  least  as  strong 


172  THE  ENGINEER  AND  SOCIETY. 

amongst  engineers  as  in  any  other  profession,  and  I  am  often  tempted 
to  think  that  it  is  stronger.  Here  then  we  see  still  another  reason  to 
look  forward  to  the  leadership  of  the  engineer. 

Those  of  you  who  have  been  dozing  or  wandering  while  I  have 
talked  and  who  have  caught  only  the  high  spots  will  have  received  the 
impression  that  I  have  been  claiming  the  earth  and  the  fullness  there- 
of for  a  small  group  of  our  fellowmen  who  have  chanced  to  band 
themselves  in  a  certain  profession.  My  real  purpose  has  been  to  call 
attention  to  the  commanding  importance  in  the  advancement  of  man- 
kind of  a  certain  sort  of  training,  and  I  had  hoped  that  the  presenta- 
tion of  this  thought,  while  not  at  all  novel  or  original,  might  have  a 
certain  interest  to  you,  gathered  in  the  shadow  of  this  noble  university, 
and  especially  to  the  young  men. 

I  have  said  that  the  engineer  brought  about  this  seventh  epoch  in 
the  progress  of  the  human  race,  the  era  of  manufactured  power,  but 
I  am  not  sure  but  we  should  go  back  three  hundred  years  to  Lord 
Bacon.  It  was  Bacon's  purpose  to  teach  man  to  gain  command  over 
nature,  and  he  taught  that  this  could  be  only  by  diligently  learning  the 
truth  and  then  following  it.  And  this  is  the  real  significance  of  the 
engineer  as  an  ethnical  force ;  he  must  know  the  truth  and  live  .by  it. 
Bacon  was  not  the  first  man  to  observe  natural  facts  correctly  and  to 
reason  from  them  simply  and  boldly.  The  savage  engineer  who 
taught  his  fellows  to  make  fire  must  have  done  that.  But  Bacon  roused 
great  numbers  of  men  to  the  dignity  and  value  of  natural  knowledge. 
And  I  would  ask  you  to  remember,  and  especially  the  young  men,  that 
knowledge  of  man  and  his  deeds  and  motives  is  a  branch  of  natural 
knowledge.  If  we  are  to  help  mankind  forward  in  this  new  era  on 
which  we  have  entered,  we  must  gain  positive  knowledge,  and  we  must 
vitalize  it  by  contact  with  great  characters  and  great  events.  We  must 
get  command  of  the  sources  of  power  in  nature  and  then  within  our- 
selves, we  must  have  courage  and  candor,  fortitude,  tenacity  and  imagi- 
nation, and  devotion ;  and  the  greatest  quality  of  all  is  devotion. 


THE  COLLEGE  GRADUATE  AS  AN  ENGINEER. 

'      •  ..      .  By    u^||S 

Dr.  Alex.  C.  Humphreys. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  this  address  of  Dr.  Humphreys  is  some- 
what too  abstract  and  difficult  of  comprehension  for  the  average  stu- 
dent :  nevertheless  a  careful  study  of  it  cannot  fail  to  enlarge  the 
reader's  mental  grasp  of  the  subject  of  engineering  education.  It  will 
also  give  emphasis  to  the  statements  of  several  of  the  other  authors, 
and  will  impress  upon  the  student  the  importance  of  a  number  of  special 
studies  in  engineering  curricula. 

The  quotations  from  Dr.  Eliot  are  classic  and,  therefore,  worthy 
of  serious  consideration. 

The  business  aspects  of  this  address  are  especially  commended  to 
the  engineer-student,  as  they  constitute  the  most  characteristic  or 
special  feature  of  Dr.  Humphreys'  system  of  imparting  engineering- 
instruction. 

Editors. 


THE    COLLEGE    GRADUATE    AS    AN    ENGINEER. 

By 
Dr.  Alex.  C.  Humphreys. 


Our  progress  in  the  industrial  arts  has  of  late  been  so  marked 
as  to  raise  the  United  States  to  the  first  rank  as  an  industrial  power. 
Our  relative  progress  has  excited  earnest  inquiry  among  the  statesmen 
and  educators  of  other  countries  to  determine  the  causes  therefor.  It 
has  come  to  be  acknowledged  that  among  these  causes  must  be  in- 
cluded technical  education,  and  we  have  for  a  year  and  more  been 
receiving  visits  from  commissions  and  individuals  from  abroad  charged 
with  the  duty  of  investigating  our  systems  and  methods.  While  among 
ourselves  this  subject  has  been  receiving  the  attention  it  deserves,  and 
manufacturers,  engineers,  and  educators  have  been  most  active  in  its 
discussion,  looking  to  the  eliminating  or  minimizing  of  faults  and  the 
further  development  of  the  good  points  of  the  systems  and  methods 
followed,  there  are  still  to  be  found  many  high  in  authority  who  re- 
fuse to  concede  to  technical  education  the  position  it  deserves  and  who 
fail  to  see  that  the  study  of  the  subjects  included  in  the  engineer-stu- 
dents' curriculum  may  serve  to  broaden  and  cultivate  as  well  as  to  make 
efficient. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  more  than  once  been  obliged  to  listen 
to  the  applause  called  forth  by  attacks  on  technical  education  con- 
tained in  addresses  delivered  before  assemblies  largely  composed  of 
professional  educators.  By  those  who  thus  assume  an  unfriendly  atti- 
tude towards  technical  education  it  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted  that 
this  special  training  is  necessarily  opposed  to  culture  studies.  No 
doubt  some  reason  for  this  distrust  can .  be  found  in  the  excessive 
specialization  at  one  time  to  be  generally  found  in  our  technical  courses 
and  still,  unfortunately,  to  be  found  in  some;  but  I  contend  that  where 
this  special  training  is  wisely  provided  for  only  a  necessary  discrimi- 
nation is  exercised  in  the  specialization  and  the  result  no  more  tends 
to  produce  narrow  men  than  does  the  old  B.  A.  course.  I  do  not 
affirm  that  the  best  engineering  course  necessarily  produces  the  culti- 
vated man,  nor  can  this  be  claimed  for  any  course  of  study. 

By  those  who  elect  thus  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  engineer,  ap- 
parently it  is  assumed  that  he  is  necessarily  engaged  with  material 

175 


176  COLLEGE  GRADUATE  AS  ENGINEER. 

things  only  and  that  it  is  reserved  to  those  who  more  exclusively  fol- 
low the  humanities  to  take  part  in  the  higher  things  of  life.  By  some 
the  opinion  seems  to  be  held  that  the  engineer  is  a  man  who  confines 
himself  to  the  occupations  that  require  the  constant  wearing  of  over- 
alls. Confusion  exists  in  the  minds  of  some  as  to  the  functions  of  the 
engineer  as  compared  with  those  of  the  mechanic. 

In  setting  before  you  the  claims  of  the  engineer  as  a  member  of 
a  profession  I  have  no  intention  of  casting  reflections  on  those  who 
earn  their  living  by  manual  labor.  I  hold  that  the  first  duty  of  every 
man  is  to  be  a  producer  so  that  he  and  his  shall  not  be  a  burden  upon 
the  community  and  still  further  that  he  may  contribute  his  quota  to  the 
common  purse  for  the  support  of  the  Government  and  the  support  of 
those  who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  are  actually  incapable  of  carry- 
ing even  their  own  weight.  Any  man,  be  he  cultured  or  uncultured, 
who  honestly  performs  his  duty  in  this  connection  need  not  be  ashamed 
to  look  the  world  in  the  face. 

Our  views  may  vary  as  to  our  responsibilities  with  regard  to  the 
hereafter,  but  there  should  be  no  question  as  to  the  duty  of  first  hon- 
estly and  courageously  meeting  the  present  responsibilities  of  this  life. 
Apparently  there  are  those  who  hold  that  the  present  and  evident  duties 
can  be  neglected  or  wholly  pushed  out  of  sight  that  they  may  the  more 
completely  devote  themselves  to  the  contemplation  of  their  responsi- 
bilities with  regard  to  the  hereafter. 

If  I  am  right  in  believing  that  the  time  we  are  permitted  to  spend 
on  this  earth  is  one  of  preparation  and  development  for  something 
higher,  then  nothing  of  the  present  can  be  neglected  and  the  educa- 
tion of  those  who  are  to  take  part  in  the  world's  work  becomes  a 
solemn  responsibility. 

From  this  point  of  view  it  is  unprofitable  to  make  comparisons  as 
to  the  relative  importance  of  the  several  professions  or  vocations.  All 
legitimate  vocations  are  important,  and  the  world's  work,  to  be  in 
balance,  requires  the  honest,  intelligent  filling  of  all.  Some  produce 
in  a  material  way ;  others  produce  through  their  imagination  and  their 
product  serves  to  uplift,  encourage,  and  sustain  those  engaged  in  the 
more  material  callings.  • 

The  man  who  faithfully  works  to  the  limit  of  his  powers  and  op- 
portunities, no  matter  how  lowly  his  vocation  may  be,  rises  superior  to 
the  man  of  greater  or  more  refined  powers  and  larger  opportunities 
who  does  only  a  part  of  that  of  which  he  is  capable.  This  may  be 
trite,  but  my  experience  in  widely  differing  lines  is  constantly  showing 
me  that  this  truth  if  recognized  is  not  heeded  and,  as  a  result,  the 
faithful  worker  is  unfavorably  compared  with  the  brilliant  idler. 


HUMPHREYS.  177 

But  the  engineer's  vocation  is  not  a  lowly  .one.  In  the  certificate 
of  membership  of  the  great  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers  of  Great 
Britain  appears  the  following: 

"A  Society  established  for  the  general  advancement  of  Mechani- 
cal Science  and  more  particularly  for  promoting  the  acquisition  of  that 
species  of  knowledge  which  constitutes  the  profession  of  a  Civil  Engi- 
neer, being  the  art  of  directing  the  great  sources  of  power  in  Nature 
for  the  use  and  convenience  of  Man." 

God — or,  if  you  prefer,  Nature — has  placed  in  our  hands  certain 
materials  and  forces.  These  must  first  be  apprehended,  analyzed,  and 
measured ;  and  here  is  the  field  of  the  scientific  investigator,  the  man 
of  research. 

It  is  for  the  engineer  to  take  the  knowledge  thus  furnished  to  him 
by  the  men  of  pure  science  and  apply  it  so  as  best  to  meet  the  wants 
of  his  fellow  men.  The  engineer  must  have  such  a  knowledge  of  the 
fundamentals  of  science  as  will  enable  him  to  apply  efficiently  the  work 
of  the  scientist.  Sometimes  we  find  an  engineer  more  richly  endowed 
with  scientific  imagination,  turning  from  the  work  of  application  to 
original  research.  Sometimes,  yes  often,  the  scientist  is  directed  into 
new  lines  by  the  engineer's  specific  statement  of  the  need  for  further 
knowledge ;  and  again,  the  scientist  frequently  builds  and  corrects  his 
theories  on  the  practical  experiences  of  the  engineer.  The  tremendous 
advance  made  during  the  last  twenty  years  in  electrical  science  is  a 
notable  example  of  such  collaboration. 

No  sharp  line  can  be  drawn  between  the  man  of  pure  science  and 
the  man  of  applied  science.  The  engineer  of  today  must  have  a  general 
knowledge  of  science  and  he  must  have  a  full  knowledge  of  and  be 
capable  of  practically  applying  the  laws  of  Nature  in  at  least  one  little 
corner  of  the  great  field  of  engineering.  For  now  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  no  man  can  hope  to  be  an  authority  over  the  whole  wide  field  of 
engineering. 

The  engineer-student  today  must  be  so  trained  in  the  fundamentals 
of  science  and  so  trained  in  Mathematics  that  he  can  after  graduation 
quickly  and  safely  further  specialize  within  his  specialty  of  engineering. 
In  our  colleges  we  cannot  make  engineers,  but  we  can  prepare  the 
students  to  profit  thoroughly  and  promptly  by  their  opportunities  in  the 
school  of  practice. 

The  institution  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  President  has 
for  its  title  "The  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology,"  with  the  secondary 
title  of  "A  School  of  Mechanical  Engineering." 

One  might  then  suppose  that  our  work  would  be  found  to  be  as 
closely  specialized  as  is  possible.  A  glance  over  the  list  of  our  Alumni 


178  COLLEGE  GRADUATE  AS  ENGINEER. 

shows  at  once  that  our  training  has  fitted  our  men  fundamentally  for 
quite  different  lines  of  engineering  work.  In  this  list  we  find  officers 
of  railroads,  superintendents  of  iron  and  steel  mills,  electric  light  engi- 
neers, electric  railway  engineers,  manufacturers  of  electrical  apparatus, 
gas  engineers,  specialists  in  steam,  marine  engineers,  designers  and 
builders  of  various  kinds  of  engines,  hydraulic  engineers,  bridge  builders, 
sugar  manufacturers,  refrigerating  engineers,  oil  refiners,  locomotive 
builders,  superintendents  of  copper  refineries,  manufacturers  of  instru- 
ments, superintendents  of  paper  mills,  manufacturers  of  textile  machin- 
ery, mining  engineers,  etc.,  etc.  The  same  college  course  furnished  to 
each  of  these  men  a  solid  foundation  upon  which  to  build  the  super- 
structure required  for  his  selected  vocation. 

It  is  true  that,  in  Technical  Schools  this  concentration  on  a  single 
course  of  study  is  rather  the  exception.  At  the  Massachusetts  Insti- 
tute of  Technology,  for  example,  the  students  follow  the  same  lines  for 
part  of  the  course,  and  then  they  begin  further  to  specialize  as  electri- 
cal engineers,  mechanical  engineers,  civil  engineers,  naval  engineers, 
mining  engineers,  architects,  etc.  But  even  where  there  has  been  this 
more  definite  specialization  within  the  limits  of  the  college  course,  a 
further  specialization  and  training  in  detail  is  required  after  gradua- 
tion. 

Before  considering  a  department  of  study  which  should  be  includ- 
ed in  every  engineering  course,  let  me  for  a  moment  again  refer  to  the 
question — Does  the  education  of  an  engineer  necessarily  exclude  cul- 
ture studies?  President  Eliot,  of  Harvard,  can  be  taken  as  a  notable 
example  of  the  man  of  culture.  He  is  also  an  authority  of  weight  on 
questions  of  education.  I  leave  my  case  then  in  the  hands  of  Presi- 
dent Eliot,  though  I  could  call  in  to  my  support  many  others  of  the 
prominent  educators  of  our  country,  notably  President  Butler,  of  Col- 
umbia. 

I  quote  from  an  address  delivered  this  summer  by  President  Eliot 
before  the  New  England  Educational  Association,  published  in  full  in 
"The  World's  Work"  of  August,  and  published  in  condensed  form  in 
"Science"  of  July  17th,  under  the  title  of  "The  New  Definition  of  the 
Cultivated  Man."  I  hope  that  by  listening  to  these  quotations  some  of 
you  will  be  led  to  read  the  entire  address. 

"There  are  two  principal  differences  between  the' present  ideal" 
(of  general  cultivation)  "and  that  which  prevailed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Nineteenth  Century.  All  thinkers  agree  that  the  horizon  of  the 
human  intellect  has  widened  wonderfully  during  the  past  hundred 
years,  and  that  the  scientific  method  of  inquiry,  which  was  known  to 
but  very  few  when  the  Nineteenth  Century  began,  has  been  the  means 


HUMPHREYS.  179 

of  that  widening.  This  method  has  become  indispensable  in  all  fields 
of  inquiry,  including  psychology,  philanthropy,  and  religion;  and,  there- 
fore, intimate  acquaintance  with  it  has  become  an  indispensable  element 
in  culture." 

******  *         *  *  * 

"I  need  not  say  that  within  that  century  what  we  call  science,  pure 
and  applied,  has  transformed  the  world  as  the  scene  of  the  human 
drama ;  and  that  it  is  this  transformation  which  has  compelled  the  recog- 
nition of  natural  science  as  a  fundamental  necessity  in  liberal  educa- 
tion." 

******  *         *  *  * 

"A  second  modification  of  the  earlier  idea  of  cultivation  was  advo- 
cated by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  more  than  two  generations  ago.  He 
taught  that  the  acquisition  of  some  form  of  manual  skill  and  the  prac- 
tice of  some  form  of  manual  labor  were  essential  elements  of  culture." 

******  **** 

"The  idea  of  culture  has  always  included  a  quick  and  wide  sym- 
pathy with  men ;  it  should  hereafter  include  sympathy  with  Nature, 
and  particularly  with  its  living  forms — a  sympathy  based  on  some 
accurate  observation  of  Nature.  The  book-worm,  the  monk,  the  isolated 
student,  has  never  been  the  type  of  cultivated  man.  Society  has  seemed 
the  natural  setting  for  the  cultivated  person,  man  or  woman ;  but  the 
present  conception  of  real  culture  contains  not  only  a  large  develop- 
ment of  this  social  element,  but  also  an  extension  of  interest  and  rever- 
ence to  the  animal  creation  and  to  those  immense  forces  that  set  the 
earthly  stage  for  man  and  all  related  beings." 

******  #*** 

"Let  us  proceed  to  examine  some  of  the  changes  in  the  idea  of 
culture,  or  in  the  available  means  of  culture,  which  the  last  hundred 
years  have  brought  about. 

1.  "The  moral  sense  of  the  modern  world  makes  character  a  more 
important  element  than  it  used  to  be  in  the  ideal  of  the  cultivated  man." 

******  **** 

2.  "A  cultivated  man  should  express  himself  by  tongue  and  pen 
with  some  accuracy  and  elegance;  therefore  linguistic  training  has  had 
great   importance   in   the   idea    of   cultivation.     The   conditions   of   the 
educated  world  have,  however,  changed  so  profoundly  since  the  revival 
of   learning   in   Italy   that   our   inherited   ideas   concerning   training   in 
language  and  literature  have  required  large  modifications.     In  the  year 
1400  it  might  have  been  said  with  truth  that  there  was  but  one  lan- 
guage of  scholars,  the  Latin,  and  but  two  great  literatures,  the  Hebrew 
and  the  Greek.     Since  that  time,  however,  other  great  literatures  have 


180  COLLEGE  GRADUATE  AS  ENGINEER. 

arisen,  the  Italian,  Spanish,  French,  German,  and  above  all  the  English, 
which  has  become  incomparably  the  most  extensive  and  various  and 
the  noblest  of  literatures.  Under  these  circumstances  it  is  impossible 
to  maintain  that  a  knowledge  of  any  particular  literature  is  indispen- 
sable to  culture." 

*  *  *  *  *  :I:  *  *  X  :}: 

"The  linguistic  and  literary  element  in  cultivation  therefore  abides, 
but  has  become  vastly  broader  than  formerly — so  broad,  indeed,  that 
selection  among  its  fields  is  forced  upon  every  educated  youth. 

3.  "The  next  great  element  in  cultivation  to  which  I  ask  your  at- 
tention   is   acquaintance   with    some   parts   of   the    store    of   knowledge 
which  humanity  in  its  progress  from  barbarism  has  acquired  and  laid 
up." 

*  *  *  *  #  #  *  *  #  $ 

"It  is  too  vast  for  any  man  to  master,  though  he  had  a  hundred 
lives  instead  of  one ;  and  its  growth  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  was 
greater  than  in  all  the  thirty  preceding  centuries  put  together." 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  #  * 

"Culture,  therefore,  can  no  longer  imply  a  knowledge  of  every- 
thing. It  must  be  content  with  general  knowledge  of  some  things,  and 
a  real  mastery  of  some  small  portion  of  the  human  store.  Here  is  a 
profound  modification  of  the  idea  of  cultivation,  which  the  Nineteenth 
Century  has  brought  about.  What  portion  or  portions  of  the  infinite 
human  store  are  most  proper  to  the  cultivated  man?  The  answer  must 
be — those  which  enable  him,  with  his  individual  personal  qualities,  to 
deal  best  and  sympathize  most  with  Nature  and  with  other  human 
beings.  It  is  here  that  the  passion  for  service  must  fuse  with  the 
passion  for  knowledge." 

********** 

"We  have  learned  from  Nineteenth  Century  experience*  that  there 
is  no  field  of  real  knowledge  which  may  not  suddenly  prove  contribu- 
tory in  a  high  degree  to  human  happiness  and  the  progress  of  civili- 
zation, and  therefore  acceptable  as  a  worthy  element  in  the  truest 
culture. 

4.  "The  only  other  element  in  cultivation  which  time  will  permit 
me  to  treat  is  the  training  of  the  constructive  imagination.     The  imagi- 
nation is  the  greatest  of  human  powers,  no  matter  in  what  field  it  works 
— in  Art  or  Literature,  in  mechanical  invention,  in  science,  government, 
commerce,  or  religion:  and  the  training  of  the  imagination  is,  there- 
fore, far  the  most  important  part  of  education." 


HUMPHREYS.  181 

"Contrast  this  kind  of  constructive  imagination"  (he  has  been 
referring  to  Zola's  La  Bete  Humaine)  "with  the  kind  which  conceived 
the  great  wells  sunk  in  solid  rock  below  Niagara  that  contain  the  tur- 
bines that  drive  the  dynamos  that  generate  the  electric  force  that  turns 
thousands  of  wheels  and  lights,  thousands  of  lamps  over  hundreds  of 
square  miles  of  adjoining  territory;  or  with  the  kind  that  conceives  the 
sending  of  human  thoughts  across  three  thousand  miles  of  stormy  sea 
instantaneously  on  nothing  more  substantial  than  ethereal  waves.  There 
is  no  crime,  cruelty,  or  lust  about  these  last  two  sorts  of  imagining. 
No  lurid  fire  of  hell  or  human  passion  illumines  their  scenes.  They  are 
calm,  accurate,  just,  and  responsible,  and  nothing  but  beneficence  and 
increased  human  well-being  results  from  them." 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *'  *  * 

'That  great  century  (the  Nineteenth)  has  taught  us  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  scientific  imagination  is  quite  as  productive  for  human  ser- 
vice as  the  literary  or  poetic  imagination." 

******  *  *  *  * 

"It  results  from  this  brief  survey  that  the  elements  and  means  of 
cultivation  are  much  more  numerous  than  they  used  to  be;  so  that  it 
is  not  wise  to  say  of  any  one  acquisition  or  faculty — with  it  cultivation 
becomes  possible,  without  it  impossible." 

********** 

"On  the  other  hand,  is  there  any  single  acquisition  or  faculty  which 
is  essential  to  culture,  except  indeed  a  reasonably  accurate  and  refined 

use  of  the  mother  tongue?" 

********** 

"There  has  always  been  difficulty  in  defining  culture.  In  the  past 
the  definition  offered  was  often  narrow  and  insufficient." 

The  time  had  arrived  for  the  statement  of  a  new  and  broader 
definition  of  culture,  and  President  Eliot  opportunely  met  the  require- 
ment. I  have  therefore  felt  warranted  in  quoting  at  some  length  from 
his  masterly  address,  for  I  know  I  may  serve  you  best  by  practically 
forcing  on  your  attention  that  which  the  pressure  of  other  duties  might 
influence  you  to  neglect. 

Now  the  question  is  do  the  courses  of  study  offered  by  the  best 
of  our  separate  engineering  schools  and  by  our  university  schools  of  ap- 
plied science  sufficiently  include  culture  studies  as  defined  by  President 
Eliot? 

To-day  the  engineer  should  be  trained  in  theory  and  in  practice. 

Such  progress  has  been  made  during  the  last  thirty  years  in  tech- 
nical education .  that  it  seems  like  quoting  from  ancient  history  to  go 
back  a  half  century.  But  we  find  that  Prof.  Rankine,  of  the  University 


182  COLLEGE  GRADUATE  AS  ENGINEER. 

of  Glasgow  in  his  "Preliminary  Dissertation  on  the  Harmony  of  Theory 
and  Practice  in  Mechanics,"  first  delivered  in  two  addresses  in  the  winter 
of  1855-6  and  published  as  the  preface  to  his  "Applied  Mechanics," 
pointed  out  the  necessity  on  the  part  of  the  educated  engineer,  of  a 
complete  training  in  theory  and  practice;  and  that,  no  longer  must  the 
fallacy  be  held  that  there  is  "a  double  system  of  natural  laws ;  one 
theoretical,  geometrical,  rational,  discoverable  by  contemplation,  ap- 
plicable to  celestial,  aetherial,  indestructible  bodies,  and  being  an  object 
of  the  noble  and  liberal  arts;  the  other  practical,  mechanical,  empirical, 
discoverable  by  experience,  applicable  to  terrestrial,  gross,  destructible 
bodies,  and  being  an  object  of  what  were  once  called  the  vulgar  and 
sordid  arts." 

Rankine  closes  his  dissertation  with  these  words : — 

"Thus  it  is  that  the  commonest  objects  are  by  science  rendered 
precious;  and  in  like  manner  the  engineer  or  the  mechanic,  who  plans 
and  works  with  understanding  of  the  natural  laws  that  regulate  the 
results  of  his  operations,  rises  to  the  dignity  of  a  Sage." 

To  those  of  you  who  are  particularly  interested  in  either  pure  or 
applied  science,  let  me  strongly  recommend  to  you  a  careful  study  of 
this  dissertation  of  Rankine's.  The  man  of  science  and  the  engineer 
are  often  required  to  meet  fallacies ;  on  such  occasions  Rankine's  Dis- 
sertation may  serve  as  a  safeguard  from  fatal  error. 

For  many  years  there  has  been  a  contest,  which  has  not  yet  entirely 
ended,  between  those  who  contend  that  to  be  practical  one  must  not 
be  theoretical,  and  those  who  contend  that  to  be  scientific  one  must  not 
be  practical.  This  contention  has  not  ajways  been  so  bluntly  stated, 
but  that  is  what  is  meant  when  some  say — we  do  not  want  scientific 
engineers,  we  want  practical  engineers ;  and  when  others  say,  we  do  not 
want  practical  engineers,  we  want  scientific  engineers.  Both  of  these 
parties  have  failed  to  appreciate  that  the  engineer  must  be  capable  of 
practically  applying  scientific  knowledge.  Especially  in  the  United 
States  it  is  now  coming  to  be  generally  appreciated  that  the  engineer 
must  not  only  know  but  he  must  be  able  to  do. 

Discredit  has  been  brought  upon  the  engineering  profession  be- 
cause some  of  its  members  have  not  been  sure  of  their  theories  before 
they  commenced  to  apply  them;  because  others  have  been  credited  with 
a  scientific  training  while  they  were  weak  in  the  very  fundamentals  of 
science  and  mathematics ;  because  others  with  a  fairly  complete  know- 
ledge of  science  and  mathematics  have  been  deficient  in  practical  ability 
and  experience ;  and  because  others  have  been  unable  or  unwilling 
to  appreciate  that  engineering  practice  must  conform  to  commercial  con- 
ditions and  requirements. 


HUMPHREYS.  183 

Still  another  opportunity  for  unfavorable  criticism  by  practical 
business  men  has  been  given  by  the  lack  of  a  proper  disciplinary  con- 
trol of  the  students  so  often  to  be  found  in  our  colleges,  with  the  re- 
sult that  not  infrequently  the  employer  finds  it  far  more  difficult  to  lick 
into  shape  the  college  graduate  than  he  does  the  boy  from  the  high 
school.  The  boy  goes  from  the  control  of  the  school  and  naturally  sub- 
mits to  the  control  of  the  office;  too  often  the  college  graduate  has 
been  demoralized  by  four  years  of  college  license  and  so  is  unwilling 
to  submit  to  office  discipline.  This  can  be  corrected  only  when  faculties 
and  students  recognize  that  the  same  laws  are  intended  to  govern  those 
in  the  college  and  those  outside,  and  that  the  breaking  of  the  law  can- 
not be  excused  on  the  plea  that  only  a  little  fun  was  intended.  While 
this  criticism  applies  to  some  graduates  of  our  schools  of  engineering, 
I  believe  it  applies  in  a  greater  degree  to  other  college  graduates.  This 
difference  is  perhaps  accounted  for  by  the  facts  that  a  majority  of  en- 
gineering students  enter  college  with  the  definite  purpose  of  preparing 
themselves  for  a  selected  vocation  and  having  entered  they  are  worked 
so  hard  that  there  is  not  much  time  or  energy  left  for  foolishness  and 
lawlessness. 

Undoubtedly  our  colleges  have  been  also  in  part  responsible  for  the 
discredit  which  has  been  brought  upon  the  engineering  profession 
through  the  causes  first  mentioned.  In  some  cases  the  course  of  study 
has  been  too  closely  specialized,  too  much  attention  has  been 
devoted  to  the  details  of  technical  training  and  too  little  to  the 
fundamentals  of  science  and  mathematics  and  to  the  more  general  and 
more  broadening  studies.  There  has  been  too  much  of  a  tendency 
to  stuff  the  students  with  facts  when  rather  their  reasoning  powers 
should  have  been  more  thoroughly  trained  to  apply  principles  to  cases. 

Now  a  reaction  has  set  in,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  public  utter- 
ances of  many  of  our  prominent  educators.  If  so,  then  we  must  see  to 
it  that  we  do  not  go  to  the  other  extreme  by  making  our  courses  of 
instruction  too  broad  and  too  general  and  so  fail  to  give  our  engineer- 
students  that  special  and  exact  training  in  the  fundamentals  which 
they  certainly  require  before  all  else.  We  must  above  all  things  be 
thorough.  Even  in  the  interest  of  culture,  there  can  be  no  advantage, 
on  the  one  hand,  in  omitting  this  exact  and  thorough  feature  of  the 
training  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  in  so  crowding  the  curriculum  that  the 
store  of  knowledge  offered  cannot,  within  the  four  years,  be  assimilated 
and  systematized  for  use. 

We  must  then  resist  the  pressure  constantly  felt  to  introduce  new 
matter  into  our  courses.  We  must  appreciate  that  many  of  the  things 
thus  pressed  upon  our  attention  are  only  new  applications  of  the  same 


1 84  COL LEGE  GRA D UA TE  A S  EN G1NEER. 

fundamental  principles.  If  we  decide  that  these  newer  applications  are 
more  important  than  some  others  already  included,  we  must  recognize 
the  necessity  for  selection  and  we  must  eliminate  the  old  as  we  intro- 
duce the  new. 

Every  engineer-student  should  be  given  full  opportunity  to  learn 
that  for  true  success  in  his  profession  he  must  after  graduation  take  up 
a  post-graduate  course  of  study,  and  that  probably  the  best  post-gradu- 
ate course  will  be  followed  in  connection  with  his  work  as  a  wage 
earner  in  some  one  part  of  the  field  of  engineering.  Engineering  post- 
graduate work  in  college  is  only  possible  for  a  small  minority  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  advantages  outweigh  the  disadvantages  in  the  case  of  the 
large  majority.  There  are  certain  necessary  things  to  be  learned  only 
by  contact  with  the  working  world. 

Nor  need  this  later  closer  specializing  be  necessarily  narrowing  if 
the  man  has  been  previously  broadly  (not  superficially)  trained. 

The  training  in  the  fundamentals  of  science  and  mathematics  (the 
theory)  should  be  constantly  harmonized  with  the  training  in  the  labora- 
tories and  shops  (the  practice)  ;  and  the  connection  between  these  two 
branches  should  be  constantly  emphasized  by  the  work  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Mechanical  Drawing,  which  can  well  be  made  a  strong  con- 
necting link. 

To  these  should  be  added  one  or  two  modern  languages  and  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  mother  tongue  and  its  literature.  The  study  of 
English  should  be  kept  in  mind  in  each  of  the  other  departments  and 
should  be  finally  kept  prominently  in  view  in  connection  with  the  writ- 
ing of  the  graduation  thesis,  which  should  be  a  business-like  report  on 
some  experiment,  investigation,  or  construction.  And  the  engineer- 
student  should  not  be  graduated  until  he  has  given  proof  in  his  thesis  of 
the  thoroughness  and  breadth  of  his  training  and  of  his  ability  to  ex- 
press himself  clearly  and  explicitly. 

Now  let  me  refer  to  one  other  feature  which  in  my  opinion  should 
be  included  in  the  curricula  of  schools  of  engineering.  A  failure  to  do 
so  has  been  a  fruitful  source  of  distrust  of  the  engineer  on  the  part  of 
the  manufacturer  and  the  man  of  business.  I  refer  to  instruction  in 
business  methods.  I  do  not  refer  to  such  a  superficial  treatment  of  the 
subject  as  will  enable  young  engineers  more  quickly  to  take  up  posi- 
tions as  salesmen  of  machinery  and  apparatus,  but  I  refer  to  that 
broader  training  in  business  affairs  which  every  man  must  sooner  or 
later  acquire  if  he  is  to  be  a  leader. 

I  contend  that  even  the  man  who  is  to  stick  closely  to  the  technical 
side  of  his  profession  must  know  of  the  limitations  and  conditions  under 
which  his  technical  knowledge  is  to  be  made  available  for  those  who 
wish  to  buy  his  knowledge. 


HUMPHREYS.  185 

The  engineer  should  know  the  principles  at  least  of  Accounting 
unless  he  is  to  be  absolutely  dependent  for  the  record  of  the  financial 
results  of  his  work  on  the  unchecked  statements  of  a  book-keeper.  Fre- 
quently cases  arise  in  engineering  work  and  in  manufacturing  where 
the  accountant  alone  is  not  competent  to  determine  whether  the  -final 
result  has  created  a  profit  or  a  loss. 

We  have  only  to  think  of  the  grave  responsibiliy  to  others,  per- 
haps innocent  and  dependent  investors,  to  see  that  this  brings  in  a 
consideration  far  above  things  material. 

The  daily  press  has  lately  shown  us  how  the  lack  of  a  combina- 
tion of  business  and  technical  training  in  the  persons  of  responsible 
heads  of  industrial  concerns  has  brought  loss  to  many  innocent  people. 

The  early  history  of  our  United  States  railroads  is  filled  with  the 
records  of  financial  disaster  which  might  have  been  avoided  if  a  com- 
bination of  engineering  knowledge  and  accounting  skill  had  been  exer- 
cised to  produce  correct  statements  of  profit  and  loss  which  in  turn 
should  have  prevented  the  impairment  of  capital  by  the  payment  of 
unearned  dividends. 

Then  the  engineer  should  be  capable  of  following  up  in  detail  the 
records  of  shop  cost.  Further,  he  should  be  capable  of  outlining  a 
system  for  the  keeping  of  shop  cost  records.  In  some  large  establish- 
ments the  keeping  of  shop  cost  is  a  matter  of  great  complexity,  and 
many  a  concern  has  been  ruined  because  this  fact  has  not  been  soon 
enough  realized. 

The  engineer  should  be  warned  against  the  dangers  to  be'  en- 
countered in  the  drawing  of  specifications  and  contracts;  he  should  be 
taught  that  the  annoyances  and  losses  involved  in  lawsuits  are  most 
easily  to  be  avoided  by  the  exercise  of  care  and  skill  in  the  writing  of 
such  papers,  yes,  and  in  the  dictating  of  the  routine  correspondence. 

In  this  connection  may  well  be  included  in  the  engineering  course 
some  lectures  in  commercial  law  and  especially  the  law  of  contracts— 
not  with  the  idea  that  the  student  shall  be  encouraged  to  be  his  own 
lawyer,  for  this  he  should  be  warned  against,  but  that  he  shall  the 
better  be  able  to  avoid  the  necessity  for  a  lawyer's  services. 

To  give  the  student  more  interest  in  the  study  of  English  it  should 
be  constantly  kept  before  him  in  the  several  departments  that  only 
through  a  fairly  complete  command  of  the  mother  tongue  can  he  hope 
to  make  available  the  knowledge  and  training  he  is  acquiring  in  those 
departments. 

The  engineer-student  should  also  be  shown  that  the  preparing  of 
correct  estimates  of  cost  is  something  which  his  employer  or  associates 
have  the  right  to  demand.  Then  it  should  be  shown  to  him  that  in  most 
cases  such  estimates  can  onlv  be  made  where  the  correctness  of  past 


186  COLLEGE  GRADUATE  AS  ENGINEER. 

records  of  cost  can  be  absolutely  relied  upon.  And  it  should  be  here 
again  shown  that  the  keeping  of  such  records  is  something  of  more  or 
less  complexity  and  frequently  not  to  be  compassed  by  a  man  who 
is  only  an  accountant  or  only  an  engineer. 

The  business  man  has  been  too  often  given  the  right  to  regard 
engineers'  estimates  with  suspicion — and  this  has  been  because  the  en- 
gineer has  been  insufficiently  equipped  to  meet  reasonable  business  re- 
quirements. 

Again,  in  this  connection  the  engineer-student  should  be  given  some 
insight  into  the  value  of  data  and  statistics  and  warned  of  the  dangers 
to  be  encountered  in  their  partial  reading.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  engi- 
neer to  see  that  figures  do  not  lie,  and  this  can  be  done  only  by  exercis- 
ing every  possible  care  in  the  collecting  and  the  interpreting  of  data. 

Again,  the  engineer,  if  he  is  to  be  a  safe  guide  for  investors  of 
capital  must  be  keenly  alive  to  the  fact  that  all  kinds  of  plant  depreci- 
ate and  that  to  prevent  impairment  of  capital  this  depreciation  must 
be  correctly  measured  and  provision  made  to  compensate  therefor  out 
of  the  annual  profits;  and  that  otherwise  the  capital  is  impaired.  Here 
perhaps  as  much  or  more  than  in  any  other  one  direction  does  the  train- 
ing of  the  accountant  need  to  be  supplemented  by  that  of  the  engineer, 
or  vice  versa. 

The  engineer-student  should  also  be  instructed  as  to  the  relative 
rights  of  capital  and  labor,  and-  no  effort  should  be  spared  in  this  and 
other  connections  to  show  him  that  the  Golden  Rule  is  the  only  rule  to 
follow,  even  if  he  is  not  to  rise  in  his  motives  above  the  plane  of 
expediency.  Capital  today  justly  has  cause  for  serious  complaint  against 
labor,  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  in  the  past  there  have  been  pro- 
vocations offered  to  labor  so  that  we  may  be  reminded  to  avoid  such 
provocations  in  the  future.  Into  the  hands  of  the  trained  engineers 
will  in  the  future  largely  fall  the  management  of  our  industrial  prop- 
erties ;  an  examination  of  the  alumni  lists  of  our  prominent  schools 
of  engineering  will  show  how  rapidly  this  is  coming  to  pass.  Under 
the  circumstances,  a  great  responsibility  rests  upon  our  engineering 
schools,  for  on  the  results  of  their  work  as  found  in  the  persons  of 
their  graduates  will  largely  depend  the  building  up  and  the  maintaining 
of  such  a  spirit  of  mutual  confidence  and  good  will  between  labor  and 
capital  as  is  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  our  country. 

Those  who  are  ready  to  criticize  technical  education  in  general 
are  even  more  ready  to  criticize  the  addition  of  instruction  in  business 
methods  as  tending  to  make  engineering  less  professional  and  more 
sordid. 

A  certain  class  of  culture  faddists,  losing  sight  of  proportion, 
argues  that  commercialism  should  be  excluded  from  the  higher  institu- 


HUMPHREYS.  187 

tions  of  learning.  Culture  is  to  be  admired  and  we  are  all  prompt  to 
render  homage  to  the  cultivated  man  who  is  also  an  active,  intelligent 
and  unselfish  worker  for  good.  But  daily  our  experiences  are  showing 
us  that  there  are  men  who  having  enjoyed  full  opportunities  for  culture 
have  only  laid  on  a  veneer  which  when  penetrated  discloses  selfishness 
and  inefficiency. 

No  possible  training  can  ensure  against  either  open  boorishness 
or  culture-veneered  selfishness. 

But  I  contend  that  in  adding  instruction  in  business  methods  to 
the  engineer-students'  technical  training  we  are  increasing  the  chances 
of  developing  our  students  as  all-around  men.  It  is  a  decided 'Step  in 
the  direction  of  culture  if  we  can  lead  our  subject  to  look  at  things 
from  all  points  of  view  and  especially  from  that  of  the  other  man. 

It  is  right  then  that  we  should  point  out  to  the  engineer-student 
how  he  can  best  do  his  whole  duty  to  his  employer,  to  his  employees, 
and  to  the  community. 

It  is  right  that  he  should  be  convinced,  if  possible,  that  he  cannot 
be  a  law  unto  himself,  that  he  must  be  a  faithful  and  efficient  servant, 
and  that  this  can  be  done  only  when  he  conforms  to  legitimate  business 
customs  and  requirements. 

By  reason  of  the  faith  that  will  be  put  in  him  primarily  through  his 
professional  diploma  he  should  be  shown  his  responsibility  to  his  Alma 
Mater. 

Again,  it  is  chiefly  in  connection  with  instruction  in  the  business 
end  of  his  calling  that  he  can  be  warned  of  the  temptations  to  which, 
if  at  all  successful,  he  will  be  subjected:  viz.,  to  certify  to  statements 
which  are  known  to  him  to  be  false  or  which  he  has  not  himself  fully 
investigated;  temptations  to  make  incorrect  estimates  to  induce  the  first 
investment  of  capital;  temptations  to  "skimp"  designs  or  construction 
to  save  a  profit  for  himself;  temptations  to  gain  privileges  or  conces- 
sions by  corrupting  others ;  and  many  other  temptations  which  are  con- 
tinually presenting  themselves  to  the  man  whose  special  ability  as  an 
expert  leads  others  more  or  less  blindly  to  trust  to  his  statements. 

Again,  in  the  discussion  of  such  an  apparently  matter-of-fact  sub- 
ject as  statistics  or  data  there  is  the  opportunity  to  impress  upon  the 
student  the  responsibility  for  seeing  that  figures  are  not  permitted  to 
lie  or  still  worse  made  to  lie ;  that  to  ensure  the  honest  employment  of 
data  constant  vigilance  must  be  exercised;  that  especially  should  the  in- 
vestigator guard  himself  against  a  too  ready  acceptance  of  facts  and 
figures  which  tend  to  confirm  him  in  preconceived  opinions.  And  here 
the  warning  should  be  extended  against  the  dishonesty  of  accepting  and 
quoting  any  statement  of  opinion  unless  it  is  as  carefully  conditioned 
and  safeguarded  by  the  context  as  in  the  original  expression. 


188  COLLEGE  GRADUATE  AS  ENGINEER. 

So  great  are  the  opportunities  for  a  man  who  has  had  experience 
in  the  fields  of  engineering  and  business  to  do  good  to  engineer-stu- 
dents in  this  direction,  so  great  are  the  opportunities  to  put  before  them 
high  ideals  of  professional  honor,  that  this  branch  of  the  work  should 
only  be  entrusted  to  a  man  who  has  had  these  experiences  and  who  has 
a  real  appreciation  of  his  responsibility  for  the  future  welfare  of  those 
entrusted  to  his  guidance. 

Finally,  I  do  not  claim  that  such  a  course  of  training  as  I  have 
briefly  outlined  necessarily  produces  the  trained  engineer  and  the  culti- 
vated gentleman,  but  I  do  claim  that  such  a  course  can  turn  out  such  a 
product  where  the  raw  material  offered  is  capable  of  such  cultivation. 
And  as  far  as  cultivation  is  concerned  nothing  more  can  be  claimed 
for  any  college  course. 


THE  STUDY  OF  ENGINEERING. 

By 
Professor  William  H.  Burr. 

A  book  of  this  kind  would  not  be  complete  without  a  specimen  of 
the  technical  literature  of  Mr.  Burr,  whose  fame  as  an  engineer,  a 
mathematician,  a  technical  writer,  and  an  instructor  is  world-wide. 
Unfortunately,  he  has  written  very  little  that  is  suitable  for  the  Editors' 
purpose,  most  of  his  literary  productions  (barring  his  text-books)  hav- 
ing been  prepared  for  practicing  engineers.  This  paper,  however,  is 
eminently  suitable,  dealing  as  it  does  with  the  broad  field  of  technical 
education  and  the  applicability  thereof  in  numerous  branches  of  activity 
closely  allied  to  engineering. 

Coming  from  such  a  high  authority  as  they  do,  the  teachings  of  this 
address  ought  to  produce  a  convincing  effect  upon  the  reader's  mind, 
and  the  elegance  and  force  of  the  English  used  render  the  paper  a 
model  for  engineering  writing. 

Editors. 


189 


THE  STUDY  OF  ENGINEERING. 

By 
Professor  William  H.  Burr. 

It  is  frequently  stated  and  often  earnestly  contended  that  engi- 
neering is  the  youngest  of  all  the  professions.  In  some  respects  this  is 
true,  although  it  is  not  true  as  a  fundamental  statement.  The  modern 
science  of  engineering  is  of  comparatively  recent  date,  for  it  is  scarcely 
more  than  a  century  since  the  operations  of  the  engineer  began  to  be 
based  upon  sound  philosophical  principles  and  it  is  even  less  than  that 
since  the  calling  of  the  engineer  assumed  full-fledged  standing  among 
modern  professions.  As  a  matter  of  fact  during  the  past  eighty  or 
ninety  years  the  engineering  profession  has  made  such  rapid  advances 
and  has  extended  so  broadly,  that  the  corresponding  educational  de- 
mands for  those  about  to  enter  it  have  not,  to  this  day,  been  fully  met. 
The  numerous  and  vigorous  engineering  schools  which  have  sprung 
into  existence  within  the  past  fifty  years  have  done  and  are  doing  excel- 
lent work.  They  have  prepared  thousands  of  young  men  for  the  credit- 
able performance  of  their  duties  as  engineers,  but  in  too  many  cases 
not  satisfactorily  as  professional  men. 

It  is  not  intended  by  this  observation  to  assume  any  position  of 
superiority  for  those  young  engineers  who  have  received  a  broad  liberal 
education  prior  to  entering  the  professional  school,  but  simply  to  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  there  has  often,  in  the  past,  been  something  materially 
wanting  in  the  qualifications  of  engineers  as  a  whole,  resulting  in  the 
failure  on  the  part  of  many  in  the  community  at  least  to  recognize  the 
full  professional  standing  of  the  engineer.  Fortunately  this  attitude 
of  the  public  has  largely  disappeared,  but  it  was  only  a  few  years  ago 
when  measures  were  discussed  and  proposed  in  the  prominent  engineer- 
ing organizations  of  this  country  to  induce  or  compel,  so  far  as  may  be, 
a  more  adequate  recognition  of  the  value  of  professional  services  of 
engineers  on  the  part  of  the  public  than  had  been  the  case  up  to  that 
time.  Some  medical  and  law  schools  already  require  a  liberal,  college 
course  of  study  as  a  qualification  for  entrance.  The  question  has  al- 
ready arisen  and  is  being  seriously  asked  why  those  who  are  entering 
the  engineering  profession  should  not  be  required  to  possess  at  least 
as  excellent  educational  qualifications  as  those  who  enter  the  profes- 
sions of  law  and  medicine. 

191 


192  STUDY  OF  ENGINEERING. 

The  agitation  of  this  question  of  engineering  education  has  stimu- 
lated material  advances  in  the  educational  preparation  of  young  engi- 
neers for  their  life  calling.  A  number  of  engineering  schools  already 
encourage  the  acquisition  of  a  liberal  education  before  beginning  a 
course  of  study  in  engineering.  Columbia  University  took  this  im- 
portant step  nearly  fifteen  years  ago  by  prescribing  probably  the  earliest 
six  years'  course  of  engineering  study,  the  first  three  of  which  consist 
of  work  done  in  the  college  leading  to  the  bachelor's  degree  and  a 
subsequent  three  years  in  the  engineering  school  leading  to  the  engi- 
neering degree.  This  course  of  study  is  judiciously  balanced  so  as  to 
include  all  work  given  in  the  most  advanced  courses  of  engineering 
study  in  this  country,  the  more  elementary  subjects  of  which  are  taken 
in  the  third  year  of  college  work  and  form  part  of  the  requirements 
for  the  bachelor's  degree. 

Such  a  course  of  educational  training  is  of  the  highest  value  not 
only  to  those  young  men  who  contemplate  following  engineering  as  a 
profession,  but  for  a  far  larger  class  who  intend  to  pursue  callings  not 
wholly  of  an  engineering  character,  although  more  or  less  affiliated 
with  some  lines  of  engineering  work.  This  group  of  liberally  educated 
technical  men  are  fitted  to  find  their  occupations  in  many  fields  of  manu- 
facturing work,  including  such  great  industries  as  the  steel  and  iron 
business,  paper  manufacturing  in  all  its  branches,  the  manufacturing 
of  textile  fabrics,  manufacturing  industries  connected  with  the  produc- 
tion of  agricultural  machinery  and  other  commodities  consumed  in  large 
quantities  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  other  similar  industries  involving 
the  manufacture  and  application  of  power,  besides  the  broad  field  of 
contracting  in  its  numberless  ramifications  in  public  works  and  corporate 
enterprises.  Although  the  value  of  engineering  study  as  a  preliminary 
to  these  fields  of  industrial  activity  has  occasionally  been  mentioned 
or  even  fully  stated  in  some  instances,  its  significance  has  not  been 
appreciated  to  any  sensible  extent  by  the  community  as  a  whole.  There 
is  probably  no  direction  in  which  engineering  education  can  be  made 
so  widely  useful  to  the  modern  community  as  in  preparing  its  young 
men  for  this  great  diversity  of  useful  callings. 

It  is  obviously  no  error  to  consider  that  the  main  function  of  an 
engineering  school  is  to  educate  engineers,  and  yet  that  part  of  its 
functions  may  in  the  future  affect  the  minority  of  its  graduates.  Com- 
paratively few  engineers  are  required  in  the  community  as  compared 
with  physicians  and  lawyers.  No  member  of  any  modern  community 
can  pass  any  great  portion  of  his  life,  if  that  life  is  in  any  sense  an 
active  one,  without  requiring  a  number  of  times,  and  usually  many 
times,  the  services  of  the  members  of  those  professions,  but  that  part 


BURR.  9  193 

of  the  public  who  require  the  services  of  an  engineer  at  any  time  in 
their  lives  is  comparatively  small.  It  is  a  calling  fundamental  to  the 
welfare  and  development  of  the  community  and  one  in  which  the  re- 
wards of  earnest  and  well-directed  effort  are  abundant,  but  the  number 
of  those  who  devote  their  lives  to  engineering  specialties  or  to  the 
practice  of  engineering  in  purely  professional  fields  can  never  be  rela- 
tively large.  In  one  sense,  obviously,  this  is  advantageous,  because  it 
reduces  the  competition  of  the  ablest  and  best  qualified  engineers  to  a 
simple  matter  compared  with  what  it  would  be  if  the  members  of  the 
profession  were  much  more  numerous.  On  the  other  hand,  the  num- 
ber of  young  men  throughout  the  country  who  are  to  follow  callings 
in  the  great  industrial  and  other  corporate  fields  where  the  work  to  be 
done  is,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  of  an  engineering  nature  must  al- 
ways be  great.  They  probably  already  constitute  a  majority  of  the 
executive  and  other  officers  of  such  industrial  corporations,  and  it  is 
a  majority  which  will  ever  be  increasing. 

In  fact,  in  any  business,  where  there  are  questions  of  structure 
or  machinery  or  applications  of  power,  or  of  the  development  of  power- 
producing  installations,  or  of  the  creation  of  conditions  designed  to  in- 
crease agricultural  productiveness,  or  to  manufacture  raw  materials 
from  any  of  the  great  natural  resources  of  the  country  into  available 
products  for  consumption,  it  is  imperative  that  those  who  conduct  or  in 
any  way  take  substantial  part  in  such  lines  of  work  in  the  most  effective, 
economic  and  productive  manner  should  possess  those  qualifications 
which  come  chiefly,  if  not  only,  through  the  study  of  engineering. 

This  general  observation  has  already  been  more  than  justified  in 
railroad  corporations.  In  the  near  past  the  services  of  the  engineer 
were  required  only  in  the  construction  of  the  road  and  the  maintenance 
of  the  roadbed  and  motive  power.  All  duties  outside  those  of  a  struct- 
ural or  mechanical  character  were  performed  by  business  men  in  their 
executive  capacities  who  possessed  no  engineering  qualifications  of  any 
kind  whatever ;  but  that  situation  soon  changed.  It  was  found;  and 
logically  found,  that  the  best  executive  or  administrative  officers  of  a 
great  railroad  corporation  were,  in  the  main,  those  who  by  education 
and  experience  had  been  engineers  and  consequently  who,  and  who 
only,  understood  fully  and  thoroughly  the  character  of  the  things  which 
the  railroad  executive  had  to  deal  with.  The  broad  questions  of  ad- 
ministration coming  before  every  administrative  railroad  man  and 
involving  constantly,  and  many  times  in  a  thoroughly  technical  way, 
matters  of  an  engineering  character,  can  be  satisfactorily  settled  so  as 
to  give  to  the  corporation  the  highest  efficiency  by  those  only  who 
are  competent  to  pass  judgment  upon  such  questions.  The  functions 


194  STU9Y  OF  ENGINEERING. 

performed  by  every  railroad  corporation  are  largely  of  an  engineering 
character  and  there  is  scarcely  any  question,  even  of  a  rate  charge, 
which  does  not  come  back  directly  upon  the  engineering  economics  of 
construction  and  operation.  In  other  words,  the  most  thoroughly  com- 
mercial matters  which  must  be  administered  by  the  officers  of  a  rail- 
road corporation  cannot  be  efficiently  administered  without  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  engineering  elements  on  which  they  are  in  the  last 
instance  based. 

Precisely  the  same  observations  can  be  made  with  equal  force  re- 
garding all  branches  of  manufacturing,  and  they  are  of  especial  force 
in  connection  with  the  great  industrial  corporations  of  the  country,  all 
of  which  involve  the  administration  of  business  interests  depending  for 
their  efficiency,  economy,  and  success  upon  greatly  varied  applications 
of  engineering.  Those  applications  include  the  construction,  operation, 
and  maintenance  of  power  plants,  a  great  variety  of  structures,  applica- 
tions of  electrical  engineering,  mechanical  engineering,  chemical  engi- 
neering, civil  engineering,  mining  and  metallurgy;  and  it  is  no  longer 
possible  to  conserve  such  interests  without  technical  knowledge  and 
extended  technical  experience.  While  the  actual  doing  of  these  things 
in  every  great  corporate  enterprise  is  intrusted  to  technical  specialists, 
it  is  equally  true  that  no  administrative  or  executive  officer  of  such  a 
corporate  organization  can  best  conserve  or  administer  the  interests  in- 
trusted to  him  by  virtue  of  his  position  without  possessing  the  educa- 
tional training  and,  frequently  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  experience 
acquired  by  engineers.  While  it  is  clearly  beyond  the  capacity  of  any 
man  to  be  personally  familiar  with  all  the  technical  details  of  any  one 
of  these  various  corporate  industries,  it  is  equally  impossible,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  he  should  be  best  qualified  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
an  executive  position  dealing  with  such  technical  interests  without  a 
fair  knowledge  of,  and  familiarity  with,  the  fundamental  principles 
which  govern  them,  so  as  to  know  confidently  what  to  require  of  the 
divisions  or  departments  of  the  field  of  activity  for  which  he  is  re- 
sponsible. Some  of  the  most  signal  failures  in  these  corporate  opera- 
tions have  resulted  from  the  lack  of  essential  knowledge  on  the  part 
of  administrative  officers,  just  as  the  extended  development  and  phe- 
nomenal growth  of  the  most  successful  of  them  have  been  stimulated 
and  directed  by  those  who  have  had  the  requisite  educational  training 
and  experience  to  direct  and  control  intelligently  and  effectively  the 
resources  available  for  their  purposes. 

The  study  of  engineering  opens  to  those  who  pursue  it  the  widest 
fields  of  industry  and  enterprise  known  to  the  modern  world,  and  that 
study  will  never  attain  its  full  productiveness  until  it  is  so  put  before 


CALIFORNIA,, 


i 

BURR.  •  195 

the  young  men  of  the  present  time  as  to  make  clear  the  prominent  fea- 
tures of  its  usefulness.  It  may  be  thought  that  too  much  emphasis 
is  laid  upon  this  application  of  engineering  study,  but  it  is  done  only 
for  the  purpose  of  calling  attention  to  one  of  the  most  important  func- 
tions of  engineering  education,  the  value  of  which  has  not  yet  been 
realized  to  any  sensible  extent  even  by  those  who  are  most  active  in 
promoting  that  field  of  educational  work. 

The  qualifications  demanded  of  engineers  in  all  the  extended  fields 
of  engineering  work  are  vastly  more  complicated  than  in  the  early  days 
of  those  engineers  who  have  not  yet  reached  even  middle  life.  It  is 
no  longer  sufficient  that  a  civil  engineer,  a  mechanical  engineer,  an 
electrical  engineer,  or  a  mining  engineer  and  a  metallurgist  should 
possess  just  that  amount  of  technical  knowledge  "which  will  'enable  him 
to  discharge  the'  duties  of  any  position  which  he  may  hold,  purely  as 
an  engineer.  He  has,  or  may  become  not  only  an  expert  technical  man, 
but  also  the  controlling  personality  in  many  wide  fields  of  professional 
work  in  which  it  is  not  only  his  duty  to  direct  purely  professional  opera- 
tions, but  also  to  conserve  varied  interests  depending  upon  those  opera- 
tions in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  the  efficiency  and  success  of  an  or- 
ganization. In  the  discharge  of  these  general  or  administrative  duties, 
he  loses  in  no  sense  his  professional  character,  but  he  rather  preserves 
it  in  a  higher  capacity  and  adds  to  it  certain  broad  qualifications  which 
can  be  best  developed  through  his  liberal  education.  It  has  become, 
therefore,  almost  or  quite  imperative  that  his  educational  training  purely 
as  an  engineer  should  be  preceded  by  the  prior  training  of  a  college 
education. 

*  *  *  *  ****** 

There  is  again  another  field  of  attractive  activity  which  can  best 
be  entered  through  engineering  study,  and  that  is  the  wide  field  of 
municipal  public  works.  This  includes  both  the  design  and  construction 
of  all  classes  of  public  works,  such  as  water  works,  bridges,  roads  and 
pavements,  electric  power  development,  electric  lighting,  harbors  and 
docks,  and  other  similar  works,  as  well  as  the  administration  of  those 
divisions  or  departments  of  municipal  government  whose  jurisdictions 
include  the  various  public  works  of  large  cities.  There  is  no  class  of 
municipal  officers  who  have  given  more  satisfactory  administration  of 
these  various  public  affairs  than  the  commissions  or  commissioners  who 
have  been  prepared  for  these  public  functions  by  engineering  training 
and  experience.  The  executive  or  administrative  man  is  always  sought 
whatever  may  be  his  calling.  His  capacities  make  him  a  marked  man 
and  the  engineering  profession  has  a  full  share  of  such  leaders.  When- 
ever these  men  have  been  put  at  the  head  of  public  works,  departments, 
or  commissions,  they  have  rarely  failed  to  leave  creditable  records  be- 


1%  STUDY  OP  ENGINEERING. 

hind  them.  To  such  an  extent  is  this  true  that  on  one  occasion  the  late 
Hon.  Carl  Schurz  dwelt  upon  it  with  marked  emphasis  in  an  address 
which  he  made  in  Baltimore.  The  engineer  is  not  by  educational  train- 
ing a  politician ;  on  the  contrary,  his  whole  habit  of  thought  and  work 
is  to  reach-  effective  and  honest  results  through  which  his  purposes 
may  be  most  efficiently  accomplished,  and  that  constitutes  an  excellent 
qualification  for  public  service. 

These  official  services  which  gain  their  marked  efficiency  chiefly 
through  the  training  acquired  by  engineering  study  have  developed 
largely  during  the  past  decade.  In  fact,  within  the  past  two  years 
engineers  engaged  in  connection  with  municipal  public  works  have 
been  appointed  to  high  administrative  positions  in  such  great  centers 
of  business  and  intelligence  as  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  and  in  a  number  of  other  large  cities  of  the  country.  Jt 
is  a  field  of  honor  and  usefulness  to  which  every  engineer  engaged  in 
public  works  may  properly  aspire,  and  no  candidate  for  such  an  office 
can  possess  any  more  effective  qualification  than  that  which  he  derives 
from  an  engineering  education. 

The  influence  of  the  study  of  engineering,  therefore,  is  seen  to 
reach  far  out  in  many  directions  which  contribute  to  the  welfare  of 
the  community,  not  only  along  purely  technical  lines,  but  also  in  a 
large  number  of  great  industrial  fields  and  in  the  public  service  of  the 
country. 


THE  MAKING  OF  AN  ENGINEER. 

By 
M.  J.  Riggs,  C.  E. 

Mr.  Riggs  is  the  Superintendent  of  the  Toledo  Branch  of  the 
American  Bridge  Company  at  Toledo,  Ohio;  and  as  such  he  has  had  a 
wide  experience  in  dealing  with  young  engineers.  He  is  a  graduate  of 
the  Iowa  State  College;  and  this  address  was  delivered  by  him  at  his 
Alma  Mater  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedicatiqn  of  its  Engineering- 
Hall  in  May,  1903.  Portions  only  of  the  address  are  here  produced — 
mainly  those  which  deal  with  the  necessity  for  absolute  honesty  in 
engineers  of  all  kinds,  ages,  and  conditions,  from  the  embryo  engineer 
just  entering  the  freshman  class  of  a  technical  school  to  the  highest 
engineering  authority  in  the  land. 

As  the  reader  will  perceive,  Mr.  Riggs  treats  of  other  ethical  sub- 
jects than  honesty,  and  all  that  he  says  is  expressed  in  such  a  forceful, 
vigorous  style  that  it  cannot  fail  to  produce  a  deep  impression  upon 
anyone  who  reads  it  at  all  carefully. 

The  Editors  endorse  heartily  all  that  Mr.  Riggs  says ;  and  they 
hope  that  his  words  of  exhortation  will  long  continue  to  aid  in  the 
betterment  of  the  engineering  profession  by  their  influence  upon  its 
student  members. 

Editors. 


197 


THE  MAKING  OF  AN  ENGINEER. 

By 
M.  J.  Riggs,  C.  E. 


This  leads  me  to  the  statement  of  what  I  believe  to  be  the  highest 
purpose  to  which  this  fine  building  and  equipment,  together  with  the 
best  efforts  of  all  the  professors  in  the  engineering  courses,  should  be 
dedicated,  that  is,  briefly,  to  .the  building  up  of  true  men  of  strong 
character,  breadth  of  view,  and  right  purposes  in  life  from  the  great 
abundance  of  raw  material  which  lies  scattered  in  your  villages  and  on 
your  farms  all  over  this  good  state.  When  you  graduate  men  of  this 
stamp  from  your  engineering  courses  you  will  have  done  your  part  to- 
ward making  them  first  class  engineers. 

***.*****  :fc  # 

When  you  look  over  the  field  and  note  what  is  being  done  and 
what  is  still  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  taking  the  forces  and  materials 
of  nature  and  converting  and  using  them  to  supply  the  world's  needs, 
to  build  up  society  and  to  help  along  our  best  progress  and  development, 
you  will  find  that  there  is  plenty  of  work  to  be  done,  and  that  the  en- 
gineer is  the  man  who  can  and  should  lead  and  direct  the  doing  of  it. 
and  let  me  say  here  that  for  the  doing  of  this  work  the  engineer  receives 
ample  reward.  From  the  financial  standpoint  the  efficient  and  capable 
engineer  receives  as  much  compensation,  perhaps,  as  he  would  in  any 
other  profession  or  business.  His  best  pay,  however,  comes  from  the 
work  itself.  There  is  a  great  satisfaction  in  doing  things,  and  the 
successful  accomplishment  of  any  engineering  work  is  a  pleasure. 

In  these  days  -the  engineer  is  the  man  who  is  turning  the  world 
upside  down,  and  I  know  of  nothing  finer  or  more  satisfactory  than  the 
building  of  a  Brooklyn  bridge,  the  building  and  equipment  of  the 
Northwestern  railway,  the  development  of  Niagara  waterpower,  the  re- 
claiming of  one-half  of  one  of  our  large  western  states  through  irriga- 
tion, the  completion  of  a  Chicago  Drainage  Canal,  the  building  and 
equipment  of  a  modern  rapid  transit  railway  system  such  as  is  now 
being  done  in  New  York  City,  or  the  putting  into  successful  operation 
the  large  steel  mills  of  the  Carnegie  Steel  Co.,  at  Homestead,  Pa. 

If  the  engineer  is  to  carry  on  successfully  this  great  work  he  must 
be  a  first  class  man,  he  must  be  honest.  He  deals  with  forces  and 

199 


200  THE  MAKING  OF  AN  ENGINEER. 

principles  which  are  unvarying  and  which  of  themselves  tend  to  make 
him  honest.  He  must  be  honest  to  himself  and  to  his  work.  Any  viola- 
tion of  these  well  known  laws  of  nature  will  certainly  make  itself  known 
and  result  in  expense  and  disaster.  He  must  be  honest  with  his  client 
or  employer  since  he  is  put  in  trust  of  great  interests  both  financial  and 
material,  and  if  he  is  to  have  the  confidence  of  those  for  whom  he 
works  he  can  only  have  it  by  strict  integrity  and  attention  to  business. 

There  is  probably  no  place  in  any  profession  or  business  for  the 
dishonest  man,  but  of  all  the  professions  of  which  I  know  that  of 
engineering  has  the  least  room  for  such  men.  On  the  whole,  I  believe 
engineers  as  a  class  are  usually  honorable.  I  have  known  a  few  of 
the  opposite  kind  and  have  never  known  one  to  succeed  and  maintain 
any  position  whatever. 

The  engineer  must  be  energetic.  His  work  is  to  get  things  done. 
He  receives  his  pay  and  holds  his  position  because  men  with  means 
want  to  invest  it  with  the  idea  of  prompt-  returns.  There  certainly  is 
no  place  in  the  engineering  world  for  the  lazy  man.  It  is  not  how  long 
will  it  take,  but  how  quickly  can  it  be  done  and  how  well,  not  how 
little  can  be  accomplished  today  but  how  much,  not  half  way  service, 
but  the  very  best  that  is  in  one. 

The  engineer  must  be  a  man  of  broad  view.  He  has  large  things 
to  do  in  every  part  of  his  work,  large  undertakings  to  be  carried  out, 
large  investments  of  capital  to  be  properly  expended;  and  no  small  man 
can  do  these  large  things  well.  For  this  reason  I  think  his  training  at 
school  should  not  be  narrowed  down  to  a  specialty,  but  that  he  should 
have  a  broad  culture,  one  that  will  tend  to  help  him  in  these  lines  and 
to  make  him  fit  to  do  what  he  must  do  in  life  if  he  is  to  succeed. 

********** 

The  engineer  must  keep  up  with  the  times,  he  should  not  be  lazy 
mentally,  he  ought  to  keep  fully  posted  as  to  what  is  being  done  in  a 
general  way  along  engineering  lines,  and  he  should  have  a  much  better 
and  more  intimate  knowledge  of  his  own  particular  line.  This  he  can 
do  by  keeping  his  eyes  open  and  always  being  quick  and  ready  to  adopt 
any  methods  which  may  be  better  than  his  own.  He  should  take  and 
read  carefully  three  or  four  of  the  leading  engineering  papers  which 
are  published  and  which  are  doing  an  excellent  work  for  the  engineering 
profession.  He  should  belong  to  the  local  and  national  societies  of 
engineers  in  his  line,  and  should  keep  in  touch  with  brother  engineers, 
which  his  membership  makes  possible. 

Lastly,  the  engineer  should  be  a  good  man.  The  qualities  which 
I  have  outlined  necessarily  make  him  a  man  of  power,  of  strength,  and 
of  influence,  not  only  with  the  men  with  whom  he  works  but  also  in 


RIGGS.  201 

the  community  in  which  he  lives.  These  qualities  cannot  but  make  him 
a  leader  in  social  and  public  life. 

A  man  with  all  this  inherent  strength  has  no  business  to  lessen  it 
and  curtail  bis  usefulness  and  influence  by  not  being  a  man  of  good 
morals,  and  by  not  using  this  strength  to  build  up  and  help  other  men. 
There  is  no  reason  why  the  engineer  should  be  blind  on  the  moral  side 
and  every  reason  why  he  should  be  the  opposite.  I  have  little  patience 
with  the  cob  pipe,  cigarette  smoking,  beer  drinking  engineer  and  I  be- 
lieve no  one  else  has,  and  I  also  believe  that  the  brightest  man  cannot 
succeed  in  the  engineering  profession  who  is  not  also  a  good  man  and 
who  is  not  letting  his  influence  for  right  be  felt  by  his  associates,  friends, 
and  neighbors. 

I  have  carried  for  some  years  in  my  inside  pocket  some  verses 
written  by  Maltie  D.  Babcock  which  I  get  out  and  read  occasionally. 
The  sentiment  has  helped  me  and  I  give  the  first  verse  to  you  now. 

"Be  strong,  we  are  not  here  to  play,  to  dream,  to  drift. 
We  have  hard  work  to  do  and  loads  to  lift. 

Shun  not  the  struggle,  face  it. 
Tis  God's  gift." 


AMBITION. 
By 

Winder  Elwell  Goldsborough,  M.  E. 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  an  interesting  and  spirited 
address  made  in  1906  by  Mr.  Goldsborough  (then  Vice-President  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers)  to  the  students  of  the 
Thomas  S.  Clarkson  Memorial  School  of  Technology. 

Mr.  Goldsborough's  definition  of  work  as  being  something  agree- 
able to  do  is  a  good  one  and  should  be  remembered  and  appreciated, 
and  his  approv  '  of  the  "rolling  stone"  receives  the  unqualified  endorse- 
ment of 

The  Editors. ' 


203 


AMBITION. 

|fSS  './.""'•  B?        ,  ;Sl  ! 

Winder   Elwell   Goldsborough,   M.   E. 


We  have  a  great  misconception  of  what  "work"  is.  When  I  was 
a  boy,  work  meant  discomfiture  to  me.  I  always  heard  work  or  labor 
spoken  of  as  something  that  no  one  wanted  to  do. 

Now,  there  are  various  definitions  to  be  given  to  work,  and  the 
generally  accepted  definition  of  it  is  wrong.  To  my  mind  work  is  any 
agreeable  and  at  the  same  time  useful  thing  which  a  man  has  to  do — 
the  thing  which  he  wants  to  do.  It  makes  no  difference  what  that  thing 
is.  If  you  are  kept  from  "work"  or  tasks  which  you  wish  to  perform 
by  the  obligation  resting  upon  you  to  attend  social  functions,  then  these 
social  functions  become  hard  to  endure.  Many  times  a  social  func- 
tion is  a  real  bore,  and  there  is  no  pleasure  in  it. 

But,  are  there  many  of  us  here  who  have  not  felt  the  thrill  that 
comes  with  the  perfection  of  some  one  thing  in  which  we  have  our 
heart?  What  young  engineer,  after  he  has  created  through  his  plans, 
designs,  and  work,  a  large  engineering  plant,  would  be  willing  to  be 
absent  from  the  starting  up  of  that  plant  for  any  social  function  or  any 
pleasure  of  field  or  sport  which  you  could  offer  him?  It  is  the  es- 
sence of  his  success.  His  life  blood  has  gone  into  the  plant.  It  is  a 
creature  of  life  and  being  to  him.  And  he  would  not  give  up  the 
pleasure  of  being  there;  of  working  all  night;  of  experiencing  any  dis- 
comfort to  make  that  plant  a  success,  for  anything  else  you  could  give 
to  him. 

It  is  not  the  money,  it  is  not  the  gain,  which  makes  men  in  this 
country.  America  has  been  accused  of  being  a  country  in  which  only 
gain  is  sought.  That  is  not  true.  I  have  come  in  contact  with  too 
many  of  our  men;  I  have  seen  too  many  of  our  boys;  I  have  had  them 
work  too  close  to  me  ever  for  one  moment  to  think  that  the  dominant 
idea  in  the  brains  of  our  men  and  boys  is  money. 

There  are  many  things  which  a  young  man  has  to  learn  if  he  would 
succeed;  and  all  of  us  want  to  succeed.  If  we  could  only,  when  we 
start  out,  have  the  knowledge  of  the  ways  and  methods  of  mankind  that 
we  acquire  in  later  years,  it  would  be  very  valuable  to  use.  We  can't 
learn  those  things  by  having  them  told  to  us,  because  they  somehow 

205 


206  AMBITION. 

slip  away.  If  you  visit  an  engineering  structure  and  study  it,  you  can 
always  carry  it  in  mind  and  remember  it  and  have  it  as  a  direct  asset; 
but  if  you  only  learn  of  it  by  hearsay,  you  may  or  may  not  be  able  to 
retain  a  memory  of  it.  And  so  it  is  with  experience.  We  must  learn 
it  at  first  hand.  We  must  acquire  it  for  ourselves.  Then  why  should 
any  young  man  be  willing,  during  two  or  three  or  four  years  of  his  life, 
to  stay  in  one  shop  and  learn  but  one  thing,  when  there  are  so  many 
things  to  learn? 

I  once  was  conversing  with  Dr.  Robt.  H.  Thurston.  I  had  been  out 
of  college  about  three  years,  and  in  talking  over  the  situation  with  him 
I  apologized  because  the  old  saying  "A  rolling  stone  gathers  no  moss" 
did  not  seem  to  be  exemplified  in  what  I  had  been  doing,  as  I  had 
changed  my  position  several  times  in  the  three  years.  He  said  "Don't 
worry  about  that.  A  rolling  stone  is  the  only  one  that  gets  polished." 
That  set  me  to  thinking.  If  the  rolling  stone  gets  polished — if  you 
want  a  high  polish,  you  have  to  roll  a  good  deal. 

So  the  thing  for  a  young  man  to  do  is  to  get  out  in  life  and  to 
learn  all  he  can  in  one  position,  and  then,  as  soon  as  he  has  acquired 
the  better  part  of  the  knowledge  of  one — he  is  young — he  ought  to 
break  off,  and  get  another  place,  even  if  he  has  to  begin  all  over  again. 
Because — think  of  the  experience  he  is  going  to  get  in  the  new  place, 
the  new  problems  he  is  going  to  have  to  solve;  and  he  will  be  twice  as 
good  a  man  when  he  has  acquired  the  new  experience. 

Make  trouble  for  yourselves,  or  at  least  what  the  world  calls 
trouble;  and  with  deliberate  aforethought,  if  need  be.  Change  condi- 
tions around.  You  have  but  so  many  years  to  live.  And  before  you 
are  thirty  years  old  you  must  acquire  a  good  deal  of  information  about 
the  ways  in  which  business  is  and  can  be  done.  You  note  that  a  cer- 
tain man  has  consolidated  a  number  of  properties  and  thereby  accumu- 
lated great  wealth.  How  was  that  man  able  to  do  it?  Once  that  man 
was  in  the  same  position  you  are.  How  did  he  find  out  how  to  con- 
solidate properties?  By  going  and  consolidating  something.  And  he 
built  and  he  built,  and  he  consolidated  bigger  things,  and  by  and  by 
he  became  a  multi-millionaire — and  you  wonder  how  it  all  happened. 
Simply  because  that  man  had  the  energy  to  go  and  find  out  the  ways 
of  doing  these  things  and  then  to  do  them,  and  not  necessarily,  at  all, 
because  he  had  the  means  at  hand  with  which  to  do  them.  No  man  who 
has  attained  to  fame  or  to  wealth  by  his  own  work,  has  attained  to  it 
except  with  much  the  same  foundation  and  much  the  same  opportunity 
that  you  have. 

********* 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  ENGINEER. 
By 

Professor  Henry  S.  Carhart. 

This  address  was  delivered  by  Prof.  Carhart  at  the  dedication  of 
Pasadena  Hall  of  the  Throop  Polytechnic  Institute,  Pasadena,  Cali- 
fornia, in  June,  1910;  and  it  was  published  in  the  issue  of  Science  of 
July  8th,  of  the  same  year. 

Prof.  Carhart  in  this  paper  gives  much  information  of  historical 
interest,  deals  with  a  number  of  ethical  matters,  and  offers  a  great 
deal  of  valuable  advice  to  engineering  students ;  hence  it  is  here  repro- 
duced in  full  in  the  hope  that  our  readers  will  reap  much  benefit  from 
its  perusal. 

Editors. 


207 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  ENGINEER. 

By 
Professor  Henry   S.    Carhart. 

It  is  essential  to  develop  industrialism, — to  train  men  so  that  they 
shall  be  engineers,  merchants— in  short,  men  able  to  take  the  lead  in  all  the  var- 
ious functions  indispensable  in  a  great  modern  civilized  state. 

Such  was  the  recent  utterance  of  a  distinguished  American  trav- 
eler in  an  address  at  the  ancient  Moslem  University  on  the  banks  of 
the  Nile.  It  reflects  the  sentiment  prevailing  in  America  today.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  held  up  as  it  were  a  mirror  to  the  Egyptians,  that  they 
might  see  in  it  the  reflection  of  American  conviction  relative  to  edu- 
cation. The  underlying  thought  is,  as  he  expressed  it,  that 

There  has  always  been  too  great  a  tendency  in  the  higher  schools  of  learning 
in  the  west  (the  Occident)  to  train  men  merely  for  literary,  professional  and  of- 
ficial positions;  altogether  too  great  a  tendency  to  act  as  if  a  literary  education 
were  the  only  real  education. 

The  foundation  of  healthy  life  in  the  state  is  necessarily  composed 
of  the  men  who  do  the  actual  productive  work  of  the  country.  Among 
these  producers  the  engineer  is  pre-eminent.  Without  him  in  the  com- 
plex commercial  life  at  the  present,  capital  would  lie  idle,  colossal  manu- 
factures would  shrink  to  individual  industries,  the  development  of  re- 
sources would  cease,  the  earth  would'  no  longer  contribute  as  now  to 
the  wealth  of  nations,  and  society  might  eventually  relapse  into  the  rela- 
tion of  the  feudal  baron  and  his  retainers  of  the  middle  ages. 

The  engineer  is  now  more  than  ever  before  an  essential  factor  in  af- 
fairs. Engineering  information  and  technical  skill  are  in  demand  in 
many  fields  not  heretofore  requiring  them.  What  manner  of  man  is  this 
present-day  engineer,  whose  existence  and  work  are  so  vital  to  the 
higher  interests  of  society?  What  are  the  intellectual  qualities  that  fit 
him  for  his  high  office,  what  the  aptitudes  that  qualify  him  for  leader- 
ship, what  the  supreme  test  of  his  fitness  to  bear  on  his  shoulders  some 
of  the  burdens  of  organized  civil  life  and  to  lead  the  way  toward  still 
higher  achievements?  Finally,  what  style  of  intellectual  training  is  best 
suited  to  fit  him  for  the  prodigious  problems  awaiting  solution  at  his 
hands? 

It  is  not  necessary,  even  in  this  presence,  to  refrain  from  saying 
that  the  type  of  man,  whom  we  are  about  to  survey  in  his  highest 

209 


210  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  ENGINEER. 

ethical  and  intellectual  character,  is  not  an  artisan,  a  motorman,  nor 
even  an  engine-driver,  as  useful  and  honorable  as  these  callings  are. 
Nor  is  it  manual  training  or  manual  dexterity  or  mechanical  skill  that 
constitutes  his  claim  to  recognition  as  an  invaluable  contributor  to  prog- 
ress in  the  twentieth  century.  He  is  rather  the  masterful  man  who 
unites  oceans  and  revises  the  paths  of  commerce ;  who  levels  hills  and 
removes  mountains  if  they  chance  to  be  in  his '  way ;  who  changes 
the  course  of  rivers  or  sends  them  through  tunnels  to  generate  electric 
light  and  power  and  to  convert  deserts  into  fruitful  fields. 

If  modern  industry  demands  combination  and  the  massing  of  capi- 
tal, combination  requires  the  services  of  large-minded  engineers  as 
managers.  When  Cecil  Rhodes  appealed  to  the  Rothschilds  for  capital 
to  form  the  De  Beers  Diamond  Mining  Company  for  the  purpose  of 
uniting  all  the  diverse  and  independent  claims  of  the  Kimberley  dia- 
mond field,  he  was  assured  that  money  would  be  furnished  on  condi- 
tion that  they  be  permitted  to  place  in  charge  their  mining  engineer 
as  manager — Mr.  Gardner  Williams,  who  hailed  from  the  great  state 
of  the  Golden  Gate.  Mr.  Williams  substituted  for  the  open  working 
of  the  diamond  mines  his  method  of  mining  by  vertical  shafts  and 
horizontal  tunnels  into  the  core  of  the  precious  "blue-ground"  filling 
the  volcanic  pipes,  which  have  yielded  uncut  diamonds  to  the  aggregate 
value  of  more  than  $500,000,000. 

When  the  great  gold-bearing  reef  at  Johannesburg,  the  richest 
gold  mining  district  in  the  world,  needed  a  controlling  genius  to  direct 
the  Kaffir  mines,  it  was  John  Hays  Hammond,  another  American  mining 
engineer,  who  dictated  the  engineering  and  mining  policies  of  the  Wit- 
watersrand.  Hammond  adapted  the  method  of  mining  the  ore  and 
winning  the  precious  metal  to  the  conditions  existing  in  that  great 
outcropping  reef,  forty  miles  in  length,  with  the  result  that  a  low- 
grade  conglomerate  has  yielded  millions  of  gold  with  a  fair  profit  to 
the  shareholders.  In  large  enterprises  of  this  character  success  or 
failure  turns  on  the  trained  intellect,  the  executive  ability,  and  the 
comprehensive  grasp  of  the  controlling  brain  at  the  head. 

There  is  no  rainfall  in  Egypt.  The  burning,  wrind-driven  sands 
forever  face  a  cloudless  sky.  On  half  the  city  of  Cairo  no  green  thing 
grows  and  flourishes.  Mosques  and  the  splendid  tombs  of  the  Mem- 
look  sultans  are  surrounded  by  drifting  sand.  But  for  the  yellow  flood 
of  Father  Nile  the  whole  of  its  fertile  valley  would  be  as  parched  as 
the  sands  about  the  great  pyramids  of  El-Geezeh.  I  have  seen  the  river 
in  flood,  when  its  turbid  water  stretched  for  miles  beyond  its  banks 
to  the  rising  ground  at  the  feet  of  the  Sphinx,  enriching,  irrigating,  and 
insuring  a  bountiful  harvest  to  the  stolid  husbandman,  who  still  prac- 


C  ARM  ART.  211 

tices  the  methods  consecrated  by  centuries  of  use.  Nature  has  done 
much  for  Egypt ;  engineering  has  done  no  less.  The  barrage  at  Cairo 
and  the  stupendous  dam  at  Assuan  conserve  the  rich  tepid  flood  of  the 
Nile  and  pour  it  in  golden  streams  over  a  million  acres  of  fertile  sugar- 
cane and  cotton  land.  Instead  of  a  burning,  barren  waste,  the  land 
of  the  Pharaohs  has  become  more  than  ever  before  in  history  a  garden 
of  the  gods.  Egypt  may  hate  England,  but  to  Sir  Colin  Scott-Mon- 
crieff,  an  English  engineer,  who  raised  the  barrage  at  Cairo  and  built 
the  Assuan  dam,  she  owes  more  than  she  ever  did  in  ancient  times  to 
Ramesses  II. 

Across  the  Firth  of  Forth  in  Scotland  stretches  a  massive  iron 
bridge  with  two  main  cantilever  spans,  each  longer  than  the  famous 
Brooklyn  bridge.  They  were  pushed  out  horizontally  from  two  canti- 
lever shore  arms  without  scaffolding  or  false  works,  and  with  the 
roadbed  soaring  300  feet  above  the  water  of  the  Firth.  M.  Eiffel  de- 
clared that  it  was  in  comparison  an  easy  task  to  build  the  Eiffel  tower 
nearly  1,000  feet  high,  because  it  is  vertical  and  stands  on  a  firm  base; 
but  to  push  out  such  a  tower  horizontally  300  feet  above  an  arm  of  the 
sea,  and  to  balance  it  during  construction  on  the  top  of  a  tall  pier,  was 
infinitely  more  difficult  and  hazardous.  This  hazardous  feat  the  late 
Sir  Benjamin  Baker  accomplished,  and  over  his  monumental  bridge 
400  or  500  trains  now  pass  daily.  It  was  this  same  plain  but  resourceful 
engineer  who  designed  the  cylindrical  ship  that  transported  Cleopatra's 
needle  from  Alexandria  to  New  York. 

These  daring,  resourceful,  and  intrepid  engineers  are  examples  of 
those  who  did  their  work  for  the  most  part  in  the  last  century.  They 
are  typical  of  a  class  who  achieved  fame  and  accomplished  great  things 
with  but  little  help  from  the  universities.  They  learned  their  lessons 
in  the  great  school  of  experience,  and  arrived  at  success  despite  the 
lack  of  the  early  opportunities  now  open  to  the  aspiring  engineering 
student.  They  were  not  narrow  specialists,  but  men  with  the  broad 
intelligence  to  consider  a  new  and  difficult  problem  from  all  points  of 
view,  and  to  employ  for  its  solution  any  method  which  their  intellectual 
resources  could  command.  They  were  not  mere  copyists,  who  read 
nothing  beyond  the  headlines  of  their  copy-books,  nor  yet  mere  imi- 
tators content  to  cull  from  the  products  of  genius  those  that  could  be 
adapted  to  the  problems  in  hand.  They  were  rather  the  creators,  whose 
edifices,  built  on  the  foundation  stones  hewn  by  others,  have  risen  above 
the  horizon  for  many  lands. 

If  we  inquire  somewhat  more  minutely  into  the  qualities  that 
make  for  leadership  in  engineering,  we  shall  find  that  thoroughness, 
originality,  and  the  habit  of  making  all  mental  acquirements  one's  own 


212  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  ENGINEER. 

are  essential.  Originality  is  a  gift,  but  it  may  be  cultivated ;  the  two 
other  qualities  are  certainly  within  the  reach  of  every  young  man  with 
normal  mental  endowments.  The  habit  of  going  to  the  bottom  of  every 
subject  investigated  instead  of  contentment  with  a  superficial  examina- 
tion is  one  to  be  assiduously  cultivated.  Each  essay  in  concentrated 
effort  makes  mental  fitness  for  still  deeper  levels  of  penetration. 

Thoroughness  is  associated  with  sincerity  in  the  conduct  of  public 
works.  The  greater  undertakings  which  an  engineer  is  called  on  to 
design  and  execute  are  not  the  ephemeral  structures,  made  of  "staff" 
and  designed  to  house  an  international  exhibition ;  they  are  for  posterity 
as  well  as  for  his  contemporaries.  Noble  examples  of  thorough  and 
sincere  work  have  come  down  to  us  from  ancient  times.  One  allows 
the  eye  to  follow  with  admiration  the  long  lines  of  aqueduct  stretch- 
ing across  the  Roman  Campagna,  in  large  part  still  standing,  though 
gnawed  for  centuries  by  the  tooth  of  time.  In  the  Forum  in  Rome  is 
an  opening  into  which  one  may  descend  to  the  uncovered  Cloaca  Max- 
ima, or  great  drain  of  the  imperial  city.  It  was  built  long  before  the 
Christian  era  and  was  old  when  Paul  suffered  imprisonment  in  Rome 
and  execution  outside  the  gates.  Huge  rectangular  blocks  of  tufa  lie 
in  perfectly  level  courses  without  cement,  and  through  this  great  drain 
today  runs  a  stream,  like  a  small  river,  on  its  way  to  the  yellow  Tiber. 
This  was  honest  work  and  the  twentieth  century  engineer  might  well 
imitate  it. 

Then  the  proper  assimilation  of  one's  information  is  no  less  essen- 
tial than  thoroughness.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  observe  a  sort  of  aloof- 
ness of  a  man's  mental  attainments  with  respect  to  his  powers  of  prac- 
tical achievement.  He  appears  to  have  put  his  acquisitions  in  a  safety 
vault  and  lost  the  key.  His  intellectual  equipment  is  for  adornment 
and  not  for  use.  His  collection  resembles  some  collections  of  physical 
and  engineering  apparatus  I  have  seen,  well  arranged  from  the  point  of 
view  of  a  museum,  but  never  used.  A  certain  college  janitor  once 
complained  in  explanation  of  his  ill  health  that  his  food  didn't  "suggest." 
This  state  of  health  is  characteristic  of  the  mental  dyspepsic,  who 
does  not  digest  his  intellectual  pabulum,  nor  does  it  "suggest"  any 
way  in  which  it  may  be  turned  to  good  account. 

Another  quality  of  the  great  engineer  is  daring.  The  mythical 
Darius  Green  had  it,  but  his  daring  was  not  coupled  with  the  pro- 
pelling power  of  an  internal  combustion  engine;  hence  his  story  only 
adorns  a  rhythmic  tale.  His  flying  machine  was  not  a  forerunner  of 
the  aeroplane.  Without  this  quality  of  daring  developed  to  an  aston- 
ishing degree  the  Wrights  would  not  have  amazed  the  world  by  their 
sustained  flights,  Bleriot  would  not  have  soared  aloft  across  the  Eng- 


CARHART.  213 

lish  Channel,  Paulhan  would  not  have  flitted  from  London  to  Man- 
chester, nor  would  Curtiss  have  followed  the  silver  line  of  the  noble 
Hudson  from  Albany  to  New  York.  These  men  are  representative 
enthusiasts  of  the  aeroplane,  whose  intrepidity  has  made  possible  the 
navigation  of  the  air. 

The  history  of  the  first  Hudson  River  tunnel  at  New  York  is  one 
of  repeated  accidents,  of  many  failures,  and  of  final  success.  During 
one  of  the  periods  of  inactivity  and  when  the  enterprise  halted  near 
complete  failure,  Sir  Benjamin  Baker  was  brought  over  from  England 
as  a  consulting  engineer  to  give  advice  to  the  company.  The  air 
caissons  were  in  a  dangerous  leaky  condition,  but  Sir  Benjamin  must 
himself  go  down  to  make  an  examination.  So  he  called  for  a  volunteer 
to  accompany  him.  An  Irish  laborer  stepped  forward  and  indicated  his 
willingness  to  go.  Together  the  two  descended  into  the  pneumatic 
caisson.  The  inspection  completed,  imagine  their  dilemma  when  Sir 
Benjamin  discovered  that  their  return  was  cut  off  by  the  leaky  con- 
dition of  the  air  locks.  The  eminent  engineer  said  to  his  Irish  com- 
panion that  there  was  only  one  thing  to  do;  they  must  bring  mud  in 
their  caps,  plaster  over  the  cracks,  and  stop  the  leaks.  The  expedient 
was  happily  successful  and  the  two  escaped  into  the  upper  air.  I  heard 
Sir  Benjamin  tell  the  story  to  illustrate  the  devotion  of  the  Irish  laborer. 
After  they  were  safely  out  Sir  Benjamin  said  to  his  companion  in 
danger,  "Pat,  why  did  you  risk  your  life  to  go  down  into  the  caisson 
with  me?"  Pat  replied,  "I'll  tell  you  sir.  Do  you  remember  when 
you  were  building  the  Forth  bridge  and  the  foundation  of  one  of  the 
piers  was  going  in,  and  you  were  in  the  pit  inspecting  the  work,  that 
Mike  McGinnis,  Dan  O'Leary,  and  myself  were  dumping  stone  into 
that  same  pit,  and  dumped  a  load  without  seeing  that  you  were  below? 
But  as  good  luck  would  have  it,  sir,  you  were  not  hit.  And  what  did 
you  do  sir?  You  just  turned  an  eye  up  to  see  who  had  dumped  the 
stone,  but  you  said  nothing,  sir,  and  we  were  not  told  to  go  to  the 
office  for  our  time.  And  now  here  I  am,  sir;  I  endangered  your  life 
once,  and  it  was  only  fair  for  me  to  take  a  risk  for  you  when  you 
needed  it."  Ah!  how  many  unrecorded  deeds  of  devotion  stand  to  the 
credit  of  the  common  laborers,  who  have  risked  their  lives,  and,  alas, 
too  often  lost  them,  in  carrying  out  some  great  enterprise  for  the  public. 
The  engineer  at  the  head  must  be  the  intrepid  leader  of  intrepid  men. 

The  engineer  who  devises  and  executes  public  undertakings  of 
magnitude  must  always  be  prepared  for  the  unexpected  and  therefore 
must  be  resourceful.  It  is  not  unusual  to  encounter  difficulties  not 
anticipated.  These  must  be  surmounted  or  failure  is  inevitable.  A 
solution  must  be  found  without  delay  or  great  interests  are  imperiled. 


214  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  ENGINEER. 

Swiss  engineers  are  at  present  constructing  a  short-cut  railway  line 
between  Lake  Thun  and  the  mouth  of  the  Simplon  tunnel.  It  includes 
a  long  tunnel  through  a  mountain  range.  Two  years  ago,  after  this  had 
been  driven  forward  about  a  third  of  the  whole  length  from  either  end, 
the  cut  from  the  south  side  was  unexpectedly  and  suddenly  driven  into 
a  deep  cleft  or  fault  filled  with  soft  mud  and  ooze  and  forming  the 
underlying  filled  bed  of  a  mountain  stream.  Twenty-five  men  were 
overwhelmed  and  lost  their  lives.  Now  a  tunnel  could  doubtless  be 
pushed  through  soft  material  of  this  nature,  but  there  was  no  foundation 
on  which  it  might  rest.  Was  the  enterprise  therefore  abandoned? 
By  no  means.  Starting  back  a  short  distance  from  the  uncovered  fault, 
the  engineers  ran  a  curve  into  the  heart  of  the  mountain  behind  the 
obstruction;  this  will  join  the  two  straight  portions  already  completed. 

A  similar  fault  900  feet  deep  and  filled  with  sediment  has  been 
found  under  the  bed  of  the  Hudson  at  the  Highlands  where  the  new 
aqueduct  crosses  the  river.  Since  this  is  an  aqueduct  and  not  a  viaduct, 
a  different  solution  is  possible.  The  tunnel  is  to  be  carried  under  the 
river  as  an  inverted  siphon  with  the  vertical  legs  nearly  1,000  feet 
deep.  If  one  can  not  remove  or  overcome  an  obstacle,  one  may  at  least 
go  around  or  under  it. 

These  enumerated  qualities  which  make  an  engineer  fit  are  intellec- 
tual. There  is  still  another  which  is  a  supreme  test  of  fitness  for  public 
service.  It  is  the  moral  quality  of  honesty.  Failing  in  this,  there  is  no 
compensation.  Intellectual  honesty  includes  the  characteristic  of  sin- 
cerity, to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made.  Moral  honesty  is  no 
less  essential  in  any  age,  but  especially  so  in  these  days  of  uncovered 
bribery  and  graft.  The  honest  engineer's  opinions  are  not  for  sale  to 
the  highest  bidder.  He  is  entitled  to  compensation  for  his  judgment 
and  his  decisions,  but  they  can  not  be  purchased,  a  distinction  with  a 
marked  difference. 

There  has  never  been  an  age  when  capable  and  honest  engineer- 
ing talent  was  more  in  demand  than  in  this  new  century.  The  present- 
day  problems  in  great  cities,  incident  to  the  rapid  introduction  of  new 
methods  of  transportation,  of  lighting  and  power,  and  of  communica- 
tion, are  insistent  for  solution.  They  are  almost  hopelessly  entangled 
with  vested  rights,  and  with  class  privileges,  which  have  been  recklessly 
given  away  in  the  past,  or  handed  over  for  a  secret  and  vicious  consid- 
eration on  the  part  of  those  incidentally  in  power.  Civic  bodies  and 
public-service  commissions,  thanks  to  such  heroic  leaders  as  Governor 
Hughes,  are  now  giving  expert  attention  to  the  solution  of  these  eco- 
nomic problems  in  cities,  aided  by  the  highest  engineering  talent  that 
good  compensation  can  command.  New  York,  Chicago,  and  now  Pitts- 


CARHART.  ;  215 

burg  are  the  subjects  of  study  by  such  commissions,  constituted  either 
by  private  appointment  or  by  legislative  enactment.  The  engineers 
studying  these  problems  must  be  clean-handed  and  honest  to  the  core. 
This  kind  of  public  service  is  in  its  infancy,  and  the  future  is  certain  to 
furnish  more  of  it  for  competent  and  clean  engineers. 

I  have  sketched  rapidly  the  salient  characteristics  of  the  modern 
engineer  required  for  the  larger  problems  of  an  age  in  which  indus- 
trial development  proceeds  with  astounding  rapidity.  It  is  too  much  to 
expect  these  qualities  to  be  displayed  in  a  marked  degree  by  young 
men  just  entering  upon  a  course  of  study  leading  to  a  degree  in  engi- 
neering. It  is  not  mere  possession  of  such  qualities  that  ensures  success, 
but  the  marked  development  of  them.  There  are  boys  enough  of  sterling 
character,  with  originality,  thoroughness,  nerve,  and  resourcefulness 
in  the  directions  in  which  the  interests  of  youth  lie.  It  is  the  office  of 
the  enthusiastic  teacher  to  develop  the  possibilities  of  a  promising  boy, 
to  stimulate  the  growth  of  those  traits  that  especially  need  nurture,  and 
to  encourage  the  power  of  initiative  and  self-reliance.  And  he  shall  have 
his  reward.  It  comes  not  in  the  way  of  pecuniary  compensation,  but 
in  that  sweeter  award  of  appreciation  and  gratitude  on  the  part  of  those 
whose  regard  in  after  years  counts  for  more  than  mere  passing  popu- 
larity. No  greater  delight  comes  to  the  worthy  teacher  of  large  ex- 
perience than  the  success  of  those  in  whom  he  has  taken  a  personal  in- 
terest, and  for  whom  he  has  been  able  to  open  the  door  of  opportunity. 

It  is  pertinent  now  to  touch  on  the  style  of  training  best  adapted 
to  develop  the  qualities  that  distinguish  the  eminent  engineer  from 
his  less  fortunate  fellows.  What  shall  be  the  philosophy  of  his  treat- 
ment educationally  for  the  conservation  of  his  undeveloped  resources 
and  the  reclamation  of  his  arid  areas?  These  are  serious  issues  for 
thousands  of  ambitious  students  who  stand  on  the  threshold  of  their 
young  manhood. 

The  recent  trend  of  affairs  has  shown  too  pronounced  a  tendency 
toward  undue  specialization  in  engineering  practice.  It  is  not  enough 
that  instead  of  the  two  traditional  divisions  of  engineers  in  olden  times, 
the  civil  and  the  military,  there  are  now  in  practice  civil,  mechanical, 
mining,  hydraulic,  electrical,  telegraph,  telephone,  sanitary,  chemical, 
electrochemical,  and  illuminating  engineers,  but  the  enthusiasts  in  these 
several  lines  are  insisting  that  their  specialties  be  assigned  a  seat  in  the 
circle  of  the  engineering  curriculum.  This  granted,  the  young  collegian 
has  either  a  narrow  training  that  reduces  him  to  the  grade  of  an  artisan, 
or  the  instruction  given  him  is  so  superficial  that  it  never  strikes  root 
and  never  reaches  down  to  stir  his  subconscious  powers.  It  may  be  suf- 
ficient for  the  practiced  eye  of  a  Paulhan  to  get  a  vivid  impression  of 


216  TWENTIETH, CENTURY  ENGINEER. 

the  salient  features  of  a  landscape  from  the  window  of  a  railway  carriage 
to  serve  as  a  guide  in  an  aerial  flight  over  the  same  region;  but  the 
young  engineer,  who  gets  a  flitting  view  of  the  whole  field  of  current 
engineering  practice,  from  the  moving-picture  show  of  a  lecture-room 
lantern  screen  will  have  only  a  sorry  preparation  for  sustained  flight 
when  he  attempts  to  rise  by  the  power  of  his  own  enginery. 

Instead  of  a  panoramic  view  of  engineering  practice,  an  interested 
public  has  a  right  to  demand  training  in  fundamentals  and  the  elimina- 
tion of  ephemeral  details  that  constitute  a  current  art  and  not  a  body 
of  permanent  principles.  The  older  culture  course  has  its  humanistic 
studies,  consecrated  by  centuries  of  use,  and  a  body  of  trained  experts 
as  teachers,  who  are  not  often  drafted  from  institutions  of  learning  by 
the  superior  rewards  of  professional  life.  Pure  science  also  has  its 
settled  subjects  of  study — its  languages,  it  higher  mathematics,  and  its 
circle  of  related  sciences.  Then  too  the  scientific  worker  who  has 
insight  and  becomes  a  discoverer  enjoys  a  superlative  satisfaction  de- 
nied to  men  who  never  add  to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge  as  the  re- 
sults of  research. 

In  contrast  with  these  old-established  courses,  those  in  engineering 
are  still  indeterminate  and  lack  a  certain  coherence  which  is  the  product 
of  age.  Shop  work  has  too  often  been  exalted  above  language,  and 
laboratories  have  been  established  in  imitation  of  a  factory  or  a  central 
power  station.  The  fundamentals  for  general  culture  have  been  pushed 
aside  by  the  onrush  of  machinery,  and  a  young  graduate  must  be  able 
to  run  a  steam  engine  and  take  an  indicator  card,  even  though  he  can  not 
write  a  straight  English  sentence  or  dictate  a  business  letter  worthy  to 
go  on  a  post  card. 

Too  much  stress  can  hardly  be  placed  on  the  necessity  of  thorough 
instruction  in  English.  It  is  a  common  impression  among  the  young 
that  the  study  of  one's  mother  tongue  is  a  waste  of  time.  There  never 
was  a  greater  fallacy.  Psychologists  tell  us  that  a  speech  center  has  to 
be  formed  and  developed  in  the  brain.  So  far  is  human  speech  from 
being  intuitive  and  automatic  that  we  acquire  it  only  by  continuous  and 
incessant  effort.  There  is  no  tool  used  by  the  human  mind  requiring 
more  polishing  and  taking  a  finer  finish.  Language  is  not  an  inheri- 
tance, but  an  acquisition.  It  may  resemble  on  the  one  hand  the  crude 
spears  or  assegai  of  the  South  African  Kaffirs,  or  on  the  other  the  flex- 
ible incisiveness  of  a  polished  Damascus  blade.  American  college  stu- 
dents have  less  facility  in  the  use  of  idiomatic  English  than  have  students 
of  the  same  age  in  the  English  universities.  When  one  listens  to  the 
limpid  and  expressive  English  of  an  Oxford  senior,  and  notes  his  large 
vocabulary  and  his  facile  use  of  it,  as  compared  with  the  senior  in  an 


CARHART.  217 

American  college,  one  is  prepared  to  admit  the  propriety  of  the  distinc- 
tion often  drawn  on  the  continent  between  English  and  American. 

The  engineering  student  should  have  sufficient  acquaintance  with 
the  best  masterpieces  in  English  to  give  him  a  taste  for  the  highest 
types  of  English  prose,  and  enough  practice  in  writing  themes  to  secure 
for  himself  a  clear  and  expressive  style  of  composition. 

The  opinion  of  eminent  engineers  on  the  pressing  need  of  a  better 
use  of  English  on  the  part  of  members  of  their  profession  is  the  best 
evidence  of  the  neglect  of  instruction  in  English  in  engineering  courses 
in  the  past.  The  acquisition  of  a  clear,  terse  style  is  urged  by  them 
on  the  ground  that  an  important  feature  of  the  modern  engineer's  duties 
is  to  make  reports  on  various  phases  of  engineering  undertakings. 
These  reports  are  an  index  of  the  man,  and  if  they  are  defective  in  form 
or  finish,  the  natural  conclusion  is  that  he  is  also  deficient  as  an  engineer. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  insist  on  thorough  courses  in  physics  and 
mathematics  as  fundamental  subjects  for  all  engineers,  though  the  former 
has  often  been  pushed  aside,  with  barely  time  enough  for  instruction  in 
the  merest  elements  of  the  subject,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  engi- 
neering is  largely  applied  physics.  A  civil  engineer  at  the  head  of  that 
department  in  a  large  technical  school  recently  admitted  that  engineer- 
ing students  should  take  a  course  in  light  because  of  their  use  of  opti- 
cal instruments  in  surveys  and  locations,  but  he  expressed  the  opinion 
that  they  had  no  use  for  the  study  of  sound.  And  yet  the  abatement 
of  serious  and  unnecessary  noises  in  large  cities  is  already  the  avowed 
object  of  several  voluntary  organizations.  Any  observant  traveler,  who 
has  occasion  to  patronize  the  New  York  subways,  will  readily  admit  that 
some  attention  to  the  avoidance  of  noise  on  the  part  of  the  civil  engi- 
neers who  designed  the  subways  would  have, been  of  great  benefit  to  the 
patrons  of  that  wonderful  artery  of  travel.  When  the  London  Central 
was  first  put  in  service  seventy-five  feet  below  the  surface,  complaints 
and  suits  at  law  were  numerous  on  the  ground  of  serious  vibrations 
transmitted  to  buildings  overhead.  These  vibrations  have  largely  been 
eliminated  by  reconstructing  the  electric  engines  to  prevent  their  pound- 
ing the  rails.  Such  facts  as  these  the  modern  engineer  would  do  well 
to  heed. 

An  engineering  course  should  include  instruction  in  history  and 
economics.  The  great  civic  and  economic  facts  of  the  larger  world 
should  be  a  part  of  the  engineer's  outfit.  His  part  in  the  world's  work 
has  close  connection  with  those  social  and  economic  movements  that 
are  conditioned  on  future  development ;  and  the  only  guide  we  have  for 
the  future  is  the  teaching  of  the  past. 


218  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  ENGINEER. 

If  present  courses  in  engineering  are  to  conform  to  these  sugges- 
tions, some  modifications  in  the  purely  technical  subjects  are  requisite. 
Instruction  in  these  may  well  be  confined  more  closely  to  fundamental 
principles  and  to  the  enforcement  of  them  by  the  concrete  examples  fur- 
nished by  the  exercises  in  the  laboratory.  A  multitude  of  details  do  not 
belong  in  the  instruction  given  to  immature  students,  but  to  the  actual 
work  of  the  practicing  engineer.  If  inquiry  is  made  of  the  experienced 
engineer  from  whom  he  got  the  most  help  in  his  college  course,  he  will 
not  mention  the  teacher  whose  instruction  consisted  largely  of  a  cate- 
gory of  details  of  the  engineering  art,  but  rather  the  one  who  marshaled 
the  leading  facts  of  the  subject  under  general  principles,  brought  out 
clearly  the  correlation  between  them,  and  enforced  them  by  the  work 
of  the  laboratory,  which  had  obvious  and  vital  connection  with  the  in- 
struction of  the  class-room. 

My  friends,  I  have  seen  young  men  develop  into  engineers  who  are 
now  engaged  in  leading  work  in  the  world.  They  are  directing  large 
operations  in  telephone  companies,  holding  influential  posts  in  electric 
light  and  power  industries,  directing  new  enterprises  destined  to  develop 
resources,  superintending  manufactures  of  large  moment,  and  super- 
vising construction  undertaken  by  the  Reclamation  Service  of  the  federal 
government.  Such  men  as  these  give  me  great  hope  for  the  future  of 
this  institute  planted  in  the  most  attractive  spot  in  the  empire  of  Cali- 
fornia south  of  the  Tehachepi.  This  is  a  region  abounding  in  undevelop- 
ed possibilities.  Its  water  powers,  its  mines,  its  reservoirs  of  liquid 
fuel,  its  irrigation  possibilities,  coupled  with  a  soil  in  which  nature 
has  been'  lavish  in  her  gifts  of  productiveness,  and  its  ocean  shore  in 
touch  with  the  wealth  of  the  orient,  all  combine  to  offer  a  field  to  the 
aspiring  engineer  unsurpassed  in  history  and  written  all  over  with  fetch- 
ing inducements  to  noblest  effort. 

The  young  man  who  -wishes  to  become  a  component  part  of  this 
empire  as  an  engineer  will  enter  this  institute  and  take  a  straight  course, 
looking  for  no  short  cuts  to  a  degree,  expecting  no  magician  to  lift  him 
over  hard  work,  and  later  to  put  him  down  softly  in  easy  engineering 
positions.  To  all  such  the  Throop  Polytechnic  Institute  says,  "Come 
this  way!" 


ENGINEERING  AND  LIFE. 

By 
Professor  Frank  H.  Constant. 

Professor  Constant,  who  is  still  a  young  man,  occupies  the  chair  of 
Structural  Engineering  in  the  University  of  Minnesota.  This  address 
was  prepared  by  him  for  delivery  to  his  students  in  1907.  His  dis- 
course is  sound,  thoughtful,  and  scholarly;  and  no  one  who  reads  it 
can  fail  to  receive  much  benefit  from  the  author's  lofty  ideals. 

Editors. 


219 


ENGINEERING  AND  LIFE. 

By 
Professor  Frank  H.  Constant. 

A  man  grows  in  proportion  as  he  touches  life,  and  no  man  needs 
this  vitalizing  touch  more  than  the  engineer.  The  world  does  not  fully 
understand  the  engineer  nor  appreciate  the  true  nobility  of  his  work. 
It  is  inclined  to  regard  him  as  uncompanionable,  as  unsympathetic  with 
the  higher  things  of  life,  as  one  with  ideals  which  are  mechanical  and 
practical  and  therefore  low.  And,  as  on  the  one  hand  he  has  felt  this 
lack  of  a  humanizing  bond  between  himself  and  his  fellows  in  other 
walks  of  life,  and  on  the  other  has  tasted  the  real  joy  of  his  work  and 
found  there  an  absorbing  interest,  he  has  withdrawn  more  and  more 
from  life  in  its  broad  sense,  becoming  individualistic,  unsocial,  and  out 
of  sympathy  with  everything  not  distinctly  engineering  in  its  nature. 
I  am  speaking  now  of  the  general  type. 

Negatively  the  engineer  has  been  characterized  as  a  man  with  the 
social  instincts  poorly  developed,  who  is  more  at  home  in  the  field  or 
office  than  in  the  drawing  room,  whose  conversation  runs  to  facts  and 
figures  rather  than  to  general  ideas  and  speculative  truth,  whose  read- 
ing is  confined  to  the  almost  unlimited  field  of  technical  literature  with 
little  or  no  browsing  in  the  fields  of  letters,  art,  science,  or  general  know- 
ledge, whose  mental  processes  are  concrete  and  mathematical  and  bear 
upon  the  practical  problems  with  his  daily  work,  finding  little  time  for 
the  vast  world  of  thought  outside  of  his  own  calling.  "I  would  rather 
have  one  good  engineering  formula  than  all  the  logic  ever  written," 
was  the  rather  crushing  reply  from  an  engineering  classmate  when  the 
writer,  with  doubtless  much  show  of  egotism,  was  displaying  his  newly 
acquired  knowledge  of  formal  logic,  in  the  old  college  days.  The  writer 
remembers  the  loud  laughter  which  accompanied  a  bright  young  Sibley 
College  graduate's  description  of  an  academic  classmate  who  was  fond  of 
scouring  the  country  waysides  with  a  butterfly  net.  Is  not  a  general  lack 
of  sympathy  with  branches  of  knowledge  whose  utilitarianism  is  not 
immediately  apparent,  a  general  characteristic  of  the  engineer?  With 
what  impatience  and  lack  of  interest  most  engineering  students  pursue 
prescribed  studies  having  no  immediate  bearing  upon  their  technical 
work.  Nay  more,  even  in  a  strictly  technical  subject  the  instructor 
must  emphasize  the  practical  bearing  of  each  part  of  his  instruction. 
Let  him,  in  his  enthusiasm,  momentarily  wander  off  by  the  wayside  with 

221 


222  ENGINEERING  AND  LIFE. 

net  in  hand  to  catch  the  whole  truth  of  his  subject  and  he  is  summarily 
brought  back  to  the  wide  and  beaten  path  by  the  sudden  falling  off  of 
the  interests  of  his  class.  How  to  do  things,  not  why  they  are  so  done 
is  the  question  he  must  satisfy. 

Happily  there  is  another,  a  positive  side  in  the  analysis  of  the  engi- 
neer. Generally  he  is  a  man  of  sterling  character,  of  rigid  honesty  in 
the  midst  of  manifold  temptations,  devoted  to  his  work  which  he  finds 
absorbingly  interesting,  a  hard  and  usually  inadequately  paid  worker 
finding  compensation  in  successful  achievement,  kind  but  firm  to  his 
subordinates,  loyal  to  his  superiors,  jealous  of  his  reputation,  unosten- 
tatiously proud  of  his  own  and  other  engineers'  achievements.  Narrow, 
if  you  will,  because  he  is  little  interested  in  letters  and  art,  but  finding 
his  own  chosen  field  broad  enough  to  occupy  all  of  his  time  and  energy. 
No  more  narrow,  therefore,  than  many  another  faithful  worker  who 
finds  the  business  of  life  all  absorbing.  But  not  narrow  in  the  sense 
that  his  intellectual  development  is  dwarfed,  for  it  may  truthfully  be 
said  that  the  engineer  who  attains  to  modicum  of  success  must  pos- 
sess intellectual  power  and  training  at  least  equal  to  that  required  for 
a  like  degree  of  success  in  any  other  calling.  In  a  word  the  engineer 
possesses  character,  intellectual  power,  and  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
Nature's  ways  and  laws.  He  needs  but  the  humanizing  touch  with  life 
to  round  out  his  character  and  immensely  broaden  his  sphere  of  useful- 
ness. How  may  he  more  closely  touch  life  and  how  will  it  affect  his 
work  and  personality  ? 

The  first  care  of  a  sturdy  and  virile  man  who  wishes  his  presence 
in  this  world  to  add  a  little  to  the  sum  total  of  human  progress,  is  for 
the  partial  success,  at  least,  of  his  chosen  life  work.  Now  success  in 
an  engineering  sense  at  the  present  day,  is  not  simply  graduation  from 
college,  a  position  in  an  office  or  field,  and  a  permanent  devotion  to 
technical  details  which  gradually  narrow  in  scope  as  the  advancing 
years  bring  greater  and  greater  specialization.  Such  a  man  may  rise 
to  the  head  of  an  office,  he  may  design  important  structures  and  justly 
be  proud  of  his  achievements,  and  yet  ever  wonder  that  his  compensa- 
tion is  no  greater.  Such  is  the  type  of  the  older  generation.  The  office 
man  was  out  of  place  in  the  field ;  and  both  office  and  field  men  were 
accounted  impractical  in  the  management  of  executive  affairs.  He  was 
not  supposed  to  have  broad  ideas  upon  economic  policies  nor  to  present 
what  views  he  did  have  forcibly  and  effectively.  He  was  selected  not 
for  executive  positions  but  to  work  up  the  details  of  projects  which 
others  planned  and  benefited  from.  He  was  regarded  as  an  expert 
technician,  and  his  success  was  measured  by  the  skill  he  possessed  in 
grasping  technical  details  and  by  his  creative  power  in  solving  new  and 


CONSTANT.  223 

complex  engineering  problems.  That  he  has  risen  magnificently  to  this 
height,  there  is  no  shadow  of  doubt.  That  he  must  be  an  expert  techni- 
cian before  he  can  go  farther  is  likewise  true.  But,  in  addition  to  this, 
his  life  and  training  should  especially  fit  him  to  direct  large  business 
interests  involving  details  where  engineering  judgment  in  a  broad  sense 
is  the  desideratum  of  success.  His  special  fitness  in  this  regard  is 
beginning  to  be  recognized  in  very  recent  years  by  the  business  world. 
Just  as  fast  as  engineers  have  shown  executive  capacity  they  have  been 
advanced  to  such  positions,  and  generally,  whenever  they  have  taken 
hold,  the  increased  efficiency  of  the  management  has  been  marked. 

These  men  have  developed  the  capacity  to  direct  large  affairs  only 
as  they  have  learned  to  understand  their  fellow  men.  Like  Antaeus 
whose  strength  was  renewed  each  time  he  touched  mother  earth,  the 
engineer  grows  by  contact  with  life  which  is  Nature  in  her  highest  and 
most  interesting  aspect.  As  these  words  are  addressed  mainly  to  young 
men  about  to  enter  the  profession  of  engineering,  whose  ideals  for 
future  professional  success  are,  or  should  be  very  high,  a  few  words 
of  advice  may  not  be  out  of  place.  Every  piece  of  engineering  work  is 
ultimately  performed  by  men,  skilled  or  unskilled.  The  young  engineer 
should  endeavor  from  the  start  to  learn  as  much  as  possible  about  these 
men  who  actually  do  the  work.  It  is  not  enough  simply  to  supervise 
their  work.  You  cannot  find  the  real  man  in  such  superficial  contact. 
The  important  thing  is  to  learn  the  workingman's  point  of  view,  how 
he  looks  at  things,  his  strong  points,  his  frailties,  his  real  capacity,  his 
sympathies  and  prejudices.  Such  a  knowledge  can  come  only  by  work- 
ing side  by  side  with  men,  rubbing  shoulder  to  shoulder,  by  being  one 
of  them.  Instead  of  seeking  a  pleasant  position  upon  an  engineering 
staff,  the  student  should  spend  his  vacation  in  the  shop  or  on  the  track 
or  in  a  constructor's  crew.  He  will  learn  many  small  details  in  prac- 
tical construction  which  he  can  get  in  no  other  way,  he  will  get  the 
strong  body  and  physical  vigor  which  are  so  necessary  a  foundation  for 
the  continuous  mental  strain  of  after  years,  but  above  all  he  will  acquire 
a  real  knowledge  of  the  men  whom  later  on  he  must  direct,  organize, 
and  use  efficiently.  Likewise,  young  graduates  should  seek  the  shops 
and  field  crews  for  their  early  experience.  The  chief  engineer  of  a 
large  railway  system  when  he  graduated  from  college,  accepted  an 
engineering  position  where  he  had  to  pass  upon  the  work  done  by  con- 
struction crews.  After  several  years  he  realized  that  he  did  not  really 
understand  the  work  nor  the  men  whom  he  had  to  direct.  He  went 
to  a  place  where  he  was  unknown  and  joined  a  railway  carpentry  crew ; 
later  went  into  a  blacksmith  shop ;  then  into  a  foundry ;  finally  into  the 
mines;  always  starting  as  a  novice  and  remaining  long  enough  to  be- 


224  ENGINEERING  AND  LIFE. 

come  a  master  workman,  foreman,  or  superintendent.  After  four  years 
of  this  kind  of  life  he  went  back  to  his  engineering  work  and  advanced 
almost  immediately  into  a  high  executive  position ;  and  the  knowledge  of 
men  which  he  gained  by  this  experience  makes  him  one  of  the  leading 
engineers  in  the  country.  Perhaps  all  men  will  not  respond  equally 
well  to  this  kind  of  experience.  Many  will  lose  sight  of  the  end  in  the 
humble  routine  of  elemental  life,  and  tiring  of  the  drudgery  turn  to 
something  easier  and  pleasanter.  Some  may  be  harmed  by  the  rough 
life.  But  it  may  be  asserted  that  in  neither  case  do  these  men  have  the 
strength  of  character  necessary  for  success  in  the  highest  sense.  They 
would  have  fallen  by  the  wayside  in  any  event.  I  am  speaking  for  the 
men  who  can  really  succeed  in  engineering,  who  have  the  ambition,  the 
character,  the  industry,  the  staying  powers,  the  mental  force.  These 
men  cannot  but  be  helped  by  beginning  at  the  bottom. 

Salary  and  even  comfort  should  be  no  consideration  during  the 
first  two  or  three  years.  Call  it  a  post  graduate  course  if  you  will : 
what  one  is  after  is  contact  with  men  and  life,  full,  abundant,  complete. 
Will  his  ultimate  advancement  be  delayed  thereby?  Probably  not.  In 
some  cases  it  may  even  be  hastened.  Will  he  have  forgotten  much  that 
he  learned  in  college?  Possibly.  He  went  to'  college  for  the  mental 
training  and  that  still  abides  with  him.  But  he  has  gained  a  new  and 
more  vital  knowledge — that  of  life  itself — which  cannot  be  acquired 
from  books  nor  in  the  classroom.  Moreover,  if  he  is  the  right  kind  of 
a  man,  he  will  not  be  scholastically  idle  during  these  elemental  years. 
He  will  seek  relief  from  the  rough  toil  of  the  day  in  his  books  and 
studies.  He  will  not  be  stagnating  mentally,  but  will  be  growing  at  the 
roots  with  amazing  rapidity  and  virility.  During  this  period,  while  he 
has  been  studying  the  real  self  of  the  men  who  work,  he  will  also  learn 
much  about  the  men  who  command.  As  he  quickly  climbs  from  the  low- 
est round  of  the  ladder  into  higher  and  higher  positions,  his  interest  in 
men  will  broaden  and  become  universal.  Such  a  man,  if  placed  in  high 
executive  positions,  will  know  how  to  meet  and  to  move  men  and  will 
understand  the  capacities  of  the  men  under  him.  Thus  a  constant  and 
close  touch  with  life  is  essential  for  his  highest  professional  good. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  success  from  the  standpoint  of  pro- 
fessional advancement.  But  as  man  is  more  than  vocation,  so  his  real 
success  in  life  is  not  to  be  measured  wholly  in  terms  of  vocational 
achievement.  It  is  in  this  lack  of  a  broad  appreciation  of  the  real  mean- 
ing of  success  that  the  engineer  makes  his  greatest  mistake,  leading,  as 
'we  have  seen,  to  the  narrow  type  of  our  early  characterization.  What- 
ever broadens  the  whole  man  must  necessarily  better  fit  him  for  his 
special  work.  The  engineer,  wrapped  in  his  individualism,  imagines 


CONSTANT.  225 

himself  different  from  other  men  and  therefore  freed  from  their  com- 
mon obligations.  This  point  of  view  is  fallacious.  Many  a  good  phy- 
sician or  lawyer  or  minister  might  have  become  a  good  engineer  if  he 
had  started  that  way,  and  vice  versa.  Doubtless  the  average  engineer 
has  a  natural  mechanical  bent  drawing  him  to  mathematical  and  mechan- 
ical problems;  and  in  some  few  men  this  bent  is  so  strong  that  they 
may  be  unsuccessful  in  any  other  calling.  But  few  men  are  so  decidedly 
called  to  a  particular  work,  and  in  most  cases  the  final  choice  is  a  matter 
of  great  conflict  of  mind.  Success  in  engineering,  as  in  any  calling, 
depends  upon  hard  application  and  experience.  The  instinct  to  con- 
struct is  native-born  in  most  men,  clearly  manifested  in  early  child- 
hood. It  is  certain  that  the  engineer  is  made  from  quite  universal  stuff, 
his  growth  depending  upon  such  common  elements  as  intellect,  mental 
training,  industry,  perseverance,  experience.  He  is  above  all  a  man, 
and  our  final  perspective  must  consider  him  from  this  view  point,  in 
which  his  work  as  an  engineer  must  take  its  relative  place  with  all  the 
other  activities  of  his  life.  It  is  but  a  part  of  the  whole,  in  which  all 
the  parts  are  sympathetically  related  and  all  working  together  for  the 
common  end — the  full  development  of  the  man.  We  cannot  therefore 
get  this  largest  and  truest  perspective  of  the  engineer  unless  we  also 
consider  him  from  the  standpoint  of  his  common  manhood  and  its  rela- 
tion to  other  activities  of  life.  He  cannot  develop  in  the  highest  sense 
as  an  engineer  unless  he  likewise  grows  as  a  man. 

Men  are  broadly  classified  in  the  two-fold  way  as  political  and 
social  units.  As  a  political  unit  the  American  engineer  finds  himself 
a  member  of  a  democracy.  But  democracy  means  that  a  grave  respon- 
sibility rests  upon  each  individual,  in  proportion  to  his  capacity,  to  take 
a  real  part  in  the  government  of  his  country.  President  Roosevelt  said 
in  a  recent  address  at  Harvard :  "I  want  you  to  feel  that  it  is  not 
merely  your  right  to  take  part  in  politics,  not  merely  your  duty  to  the 
state,  but  that  it  is  demanded  by  your  own  self-respect,  unless  you  are 
content  to  acknowledge  that  you  are  unfit  to  govern  yourself  and  have 
to  submit  to  the  rule  of  somebody  else  as  master — and  this  is  what  it 
means  if  you  do  not  do  your  own  part  in  government." 

The  many  grave  problems  confronting  the  republic  will  be  wisely 
solved  only  when  every  citizen  considers  himself  personally  respon- 
sible for  them  and  applies  as  much  thought  to  their  solution  as  he  does 
to  his  private  business.  The  responsibility  of  citizenship  falls  heavily 
upon  the  engineer,  for  not  only  is  he  especially  fitted  by  his  training 
to  handle  large  problems,  but  many  of  the  public  questions  involve  broad 
engineering  principles,  and  too  often  he  is  the  most  listless  of  citizens. 


226  ENGINEERING  AND  LIFE. 

If  the  engineer  will  not  interest  himself  in  these  problems,  can  he  expect 
others  to  be  more  faithful  or  to  find  better  solutions? 

As  a  nation  we  are  notoriously  selfish  in  the  pursuit  of  our  own 
private  ends,  indifferent  to  its  best  welfare  except  when  our  own  in- 
terests are  threatened,  thankful  if  the  ship  of  state  will  but  keep  off 
of  the  rocks.  As  a  democracy  we  have  fallen  far  short  of  the  ideal 
simply  because  the  educated  and  broad  sighted  men  of  the  country  have 
not  given  their  efforts  in  its  behalf.  The  building  of  a  bridge  or  rail- 
road is  undoubtedly  for  the  public  weal.  But  more  important  still  is 
the  building  of  the  ideal  democracy  in  which  all  men  will  truly  share  in 
its  government  and  all  problems  will  be  solved  in  the  spirit  of  unselfish- 
ness and  with  wisdom.  Here  is  to  be  found  the  meaning  of  true  patriot- 
ism— a  patriotism  which,  day  by  day,  in  the  midst  of  more  selfish  in- 
terests finds  the  time  to  work  for  the  country's  best  welfare. 

The  engineer  is  likewise  a  member  of  society,  from  which  he  gets 
much  and  to  which  he  owes  much.  Society  is  the  relation  of  man  to 
man.  He  gets  from  it  not  only  the  knowledge  of  life  as  it  exists  at 
present,  but  the  history  of  its  past  development  as  it  has  left  its  impress 
in  art,  literature,  science,  and  human  experience.  It  alone  has  made 
possible  the  evolution  of  man  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  state.  In  its  rich 
soil  alone  the  individual  soul  may  germinate  and  expand  into  something 
larger  and  nobler.  Man,  and  especially  the  engineer,  cannot  afford  to 
withdraw  from  its  stimulating  influence. 

We  have  seen  how  breadth  of  view  is  essential  to  the  highest  suc- 
cess of  the  engineer.  So  also  is  a  broad  liberal  culture  necessary  to  the 
development  of  the  whole  man.  Truth  is  not  confined  to  any  one  branch 
of  human  knowledge.  She  is  like  the  many  colored  woof  of  cloth  trac- 
ing its  way  in  and  out  over  the  whole  field.  He  who  would  know  her 
as  she  truly  is  must  seek  her  in  many  habitations.  No  man  can  compass 
the  whole  of  human  knowledge,  but  he  can  keep  himself  atune  with  it, 
ready  to  vibrate  on  all  sides.  I  would  counsel  the  young  engineer,  fix- 
ing his  ideal  at  nothing  less  than  the  fullest  development  of  the  whole 
man,  to  let  a  love  for  knowledge — for  truth  as  seen  from  many  sides — 
spring  up  and  grow  alongside  of  his  enthusiasm  for  engineering.  Es- 
pecially should  he  seek  the  so-called  humanities,  which  teach  of  man's 
relation  to  man,  for  here  he  will  find  the  mainspring  of-  human  action. 
Students  of  engineering  should  not  avoid  but  welcome  occasional  sub- 
jects chosen  from  this  group.  I  hope  the  day  will  come  when  our  en- 
gineering colleges  will  require  one  or  two  years  of  academic  training 
for  entrance  to  the  technical  courses  and  that  even  these  will  be  as  broad 
as  practicable. 


CONSTANT.  227 

A  broad  culture  fits  a  man  for  any  society.  But  if  the  end  were 
simply  selfish — his  own  increased  enjoyment  of  life,  or  greater  profes- 
sional advancement — it  might  not  be  worth  the  seeking.  But  each  man 
should  pay  back  to  society  something  that  he  takes  from  it,  and  his 
present  duty  is  clear.  In  spite  of  ever  increasing  wealth  and  prosperity, 
in  spite  of  great  achievements  in  science  and  particularly  engineering 
science,  bringing  increased  comfort  or  luxury  to  every  man,  the  ideals  of 
society  as  a  whole  are  disappointingly  low.  Power  and  wealth  are  sought 
for  their  own  sakes;  commercialism  and  rapid  living  rule  the  day. 
Nearly  every  one  is  caught  in  the  tide  and,  in  spite  of  better  judgment, 
swept  along  with  the  current.  It  is  the  man  of  broad  culture  and  high 
ideals  who  must  lead  the  way  to  things  better  worth  while,  that  the  lives 
of  the  majority  of  men  may  not  be  wasted  seeking  baubles.  Man  may  not 
live  by  bread  alone.  The  engineer,  especially,  has  been  accused  of  ma- 
terialistic ideals,  and  as  one  whose  life  is  spent  in  a  mechanical  atmos- 
phere and  who  often  controls  the  spending  of  large  sums,  he  is  prone  to 
over-rate  the  real  value  of  these  things  in  life.  He,  too,  needs  the  broad 
culture  that  leads  to  a  sane  perspective  of  life  and  its  high  ends. 

Our  engineering  colleges  draw  many  recruits  from  humble  homes 
in  which  the  stern  conditions  of  life  have  left  no  place  for  culture.  To 
most  of  these  young  men  the  engineering  college  is  the  door  to  a  posi- 
tion, work  that  is  stimulating  and  interesting,  a  comfortable  living.  To 
many  this  preachment  may  seem  too  idealistic  and  therefore  impracti- 
cable. They  are  thankful  to  get  a  good  position  and  to  enjoy  an  increas- 
ing salary.  They  become  valuable  to  their  employers,  their  living  is 
assured,  they  are  happy.  Culture,  (they  think)  is  not  a  concom- 
itant of  engineering;  and  having  started  with  little,  why  bother  about 
it  at  all?  The  man  of  narrow  view  does  not  understand  breadth  of 
view ;  the  man  in  the  valley  has  no  conception  of  what  the  man  on  the 
hill  top  is  seeing.  It  is  the  men  at  the  top  and  not  those  at  the  bottom 
(however  numerous),  who  stamp  the  true  character  of  a  calling.  The 
uncultured  engineer,  finding  himself  in  a  numerous  crowd,  may  think 
that  his  view  includes  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  engineering, 
and  that,  like  a  fraternal  order,  having  once  been  admitted  to  member- 
ship he  has  been  initiated  into  all  its  secrets  and  henceforth  may  enjoy 
an  equal  fellowship.  The  outside  world  seeing  the  large  membership 
of  the  uncultured  imagines  that  this  is  the  type  that  all  engineers  must 
conform  to — that  it  is  essentially  a  narrow  and  unidealistic  calling. 

Of  course  this  opinion  is  incorrect.  Engineering  is  not  a  fraternal 
order,  but  a  progressive  vocation  with  a  definite  bottom  and  offering 
unlimited  opportunities  for  expansion  upwards.  Many  have  reached 
high  eminences  and  have  enjoyed  the  society  and  friendship  of  the 


228  ENGINEERING  AND  LIFE. 

greatest  men  of  their  time.  The  names  of  great  engineers  have  come 
down  to  us  from  all  ages  along  with  those  of  statesmen  and  generals. 
In  Westminister  Abbey  there  is  a  memorial  tablet  to  Robert  Stephen- 
son,  the  great  English  bridge  engineer,  whilst  in  the  crypt  of  the  cathe- 
dral of  Glasgow  a  similar  memorial  to  the  same  man  is  the  shrine  visited 
by  thousands.  England  honors  many  of  its  great  engineers  with  knight- 
hood. In  Europe  the  engineering  profession  is  regarded  with  honor 
and  of  equal  rank  with  the  other  learned  professions,  but  in  these  coun- 
tries entrance  into  this,  as  into  any  of  the  professions,  requires  long  years 
of  very  rigorous  training  superimposed  upon  a  broad  foundation  of  gen- 
eral culture. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  turn  to  Europe  to  find  the  true  place  of 
engineers  in  the  society  of  men.  This  country  has  a  long  roll  of  honor 
which  contains  names  that  any  profession  or  any  country  might  well 
be  proud  of ;  men  who  are  not  only  great  engineers,  but  gentlemen  of  the 
highest  and  broadest  culture.  The  young  engineer  should  turn  his 
eyes  upward  to  see  what  engineering  truly  is,  and  from  the  illustrious 
men  at  the  top  catch  the  inspiration  and  ideal  for  his  professional  life. 
He  will  find  these  men  truly  broad  both  as  engineers  and  as  men,  and 
he  will  find  further  that  it  is  because  of  their  breadth  that  they  are 
great  engineers. 

Engineering  is  a  noble  calling  and  the  men  who  follow  it  need 
not  necessarily,  if  they  so  mind,  be  swallowed  up  in  a  sea  of  material- 
ism. Matter  is  universal  and  clothes  the  seat  of  thought  and  spirit. 
In  molding  matter  to  the  uses  of  man  the  engineer  but  adapts  him- 
self to  the  conditions  of  a  material  world.  The  real  engineer  is  the 
intellectual  force  and  spirit  back'  of  matter.  So  far  from  being  de- 
based, he  is  to  be  congratulated  that  his  mind  may  work  in  such  close 
harmony  with  nature.  His  mental  processes  are  sane  and  true,  and 
drawing  their  inspiration  from  nature  they  find  there  an  unlimited 
source.  He  need  not  be  ashamed  of  his  calling;  let  him  see  to  it  that 
he  is  worthy  of  it  and  that  he  use  the  rich  opportunity  to  grow  into 
the  full  measure  of  manhood. 


LIMITATIONS   OF   EFFICIENCY   IN   ENGINEERING 
EDUCATION. 

By 
Dr.  George  Fillmore  Swain. 

Although  this  address  was  not  prepared  directly  for  the  benefit 
of  engineering  students,  but  more  especially  for  their  instructors,  it 
contains,  nevertheless,  many  matters  of  interest  and  value  to  under- 
graduates, which  alone  would  be  sufficient  reason  for  its  reproduction 
here,  even  if  it  were  not  the  sole  specimen  given  of  Dr.  Swain's  writ- 
ing. Without  an  example  of  his  diction,  the  book  would  be  incom- 
plete; because  he  is  one  of  the  most  noted  engineering  instructors  of 
America.  For  many  years  he  taught  civil  engineering  at  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Institute  of  Technology,  at  the  same  time  attending  to  a 
large  private  practice,  including  membership  on  important  engineer- 
ing commissions  of  his  State;  but  lately  he  has  been  called  to  Harvard 
University  to  take  charge  of  its  post-graduate  course  in  engineering. 

No  comment  is  necessary  concerning  Dr.  Swain's  lecture,  the  high 
character  of  his  ideas  and  the  forcefulness  of  his  expression  being 
evident  to  the  most  casual  reader. 

Editors. 


229 


LIMITATIONS   OF   EFFICIENCY   IN   ENGINEERING 
EDUCATION. 

By 
Dr.   George   Fillmore   Swain. 

Our  colleges,  universities,  and  technical  schools  are  at  the  pres- 
ent time  the  subject  of  serious  criticism  at  the  hands  of  many  writers, 
some  of  them  in  high  authority  in  educational  matters,  some  of  them 
outsiders  with  no  teaching  experience,  who  judge  of  the  work  of  the 
schools  by  the  men  that  are  turned  out.  Even  the  presidents  of  some 
of  our  educational  institutions,  if  they  have  been  correctly  reported, 
admit  that  much  of  the  development  of  the  last  few  decades  has  been, 
if  not  in  the  wrong  direction,  at  least  incomplete  or  unsymmetrical, 
and  that  important  modifications  need  to  be  made  in  regard  to  methods 
of  instruction  and  administration,  as  well  as  in  matters  of  general 
educational  policy.  Critics  outside  the  teaching  profession,  joining  in 
the  complaint,  have  pointed  out  what  they  consider  serious  faults,  and 
have  indicated  how,  in  their  opinion,  our  colleges  should  be  reorganized. 

While  most  of  this  criticism  has  been  directed  against  the  colleges, 
the  engineering  schools  have  come  in  for  their  share.  Engineers  of 
eminence,  like  Mr.  F.  W.  Taylor,  and  employers  of  engineers,  like 
Mr.  Crane,  have  told  us  that  the  engineering  graduate,  when  he  leaves 
the  technical  school  or  the  university,  is  of  little  or  no  use  to  his  em- 
ployers— at  least  until  he  has  been  seasoned  by  several  years  of  ex- 
perience in  contact  with  the  hard  world — with  the  solid  facts  of  life. 

Let  me  invite  your  attention  for  a  few  moments  to  a  consideration 
of  the  questions  what  the  engineering  graduate  might  be  and  ought 
to  be  when  he  leaves  the  school,  what  he  too  often  is,  and  what  some 
of  the  difficulties  are  which  prevent  the  attainment  of  the  ideal;  in 
other  words,  let  us  consider  some  of  the  limitations  of  efficiency  in 
engineering  education. 

Let  me  first  admit  that  a  long  experience  in  teaching  has  con- 
vinced me  that  there  is  much  truth  in  the  criticisms  which  have  been 
made.  I  fully  believe,  however,  that  they  have  been  often  exaggerated, 
and,  moreover,  that  many  of  the  defects  that  have  been  pointed  out 
are  capable  of  remedy. 

When  our  technical  schools  were  new,  say  forty  or  fifty  years  ago, 
the  value  of  a  scientific  training  was  not  appreciated  by  manufacturers, 

231 


232  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

or  even  by  members  of  the  engineering  profession  itself.  The  ma- 
jority of  engineers  had  not  had  the  advantages  of  a  thorough  educa- 
tion, and  indeed,  it  had  not  been  fully  realized  that  engineering  was 
a  science.  It  was  considered  a  branch  of  the  building  art,  and  its 
practice  was  largely  empirical.  Consequently,  engineering  graduates 
often  had  difficulty  in  obtaining  positions,  and  their  scientific  acquire- 
ments were  considered  to  be  of  little  use;  the  young  graduates  were 
looked  upon  as  theorists,  and  as  inferior  to  the  practical  men  who  had 
gained  their  knowledge  by  experience.  A  sharp  contrast  was  drawn 
between  theory  and  practice,  as  though  the  two  were  incompatible; 
and  the  practical  man,  whether  engineer  or  employer,  scoffed  at  the 
theorist,  often  only  too  justly. 

All  this,  however,  rapidly  changed;  the  schools  soon  realized  the 
fact  that  they  could  not  make  a  man  an  engineer,  and  that  they  should 
confine  their  attention  mainly  to  giving  him  the  foundation  of  scientific 
principles  on  which  he  could  build,  and  which  would  enable  him,  as  he 
should  gain  experience,  to  understand  and  coordinate  what  he  had 
learned,  and  thus  to  practice  his  profession  in  a  truly  scientific  way. 
The  teaching  of  engineering  instead  of  being  done  by  mathematicians, 
or  men  with  no  practical  experience  in  the  things  they  were  teaching, 
began  to  come  into  the  hands  of  men  who  were  practical  engineers  as 
well  as  scientists,  and  who  knew  the  importance  of  teaching  mathe- 
matics and  mechanics  in  such  a  way  that  they  could  be  used  as  tools 
instead  of  regarded  as  abstractions. 

Employers  engaged  in  business  in  which  the  applied  scientist  could 
legitimately  be  useful,  on  the  other  hand,  soon  learned  that  many  of 
these  young  men  could  do  things  which  were  entirely  beyond  the  power 
of  the  unschooled  man,  even  with  years  of  experience.  Visiting  one  of 
our  engineering  schools  some  twenty  years  ago  for  the  first  time,  one 
of  these  employers  was  quite  surprised  at  what  he  saw,  and  at  the 
work  which  had  been  done  by  the  students.  Upon  leaving  the  presi- 
dent of  the  institution,  he  said  that  he  had  been,  much  impressed,  and 
thought  he  would  take  a  number  of  men  of  the  senior  class  as  soon 
as  they  were  graduated,  to  which  the  president  replied  that  he  would 
not  take  these  men,  because  they  all  had  been  already  spoken  for. 

This  change  is  still  going  on.  The  enormous  development  of  en- 
gineering, and  the  growing  recognition  of  the  fact  that  a  university 
or  college,  instead  of  giving  a  man  so-called  culture  only,  should  train 
him  definitely  for  active  work  in  the  world,  led  to  the  corresponding 
development  of  engineering  departments.  And,  certainly,  of  the  work 
of  the  world,  a  very  large  part  is  dependent  upon  applied  science,  and 
the  engineering  department  of  a  university  should  be  one  of  its  strong- 


SWAIN.  233 

est  and  largest  departments.  Teaching  which  is  concrete  and  practical, 
yet  thoroughly  scientific,  is  increasing,  and  graduates  more  and  more 
capable  of  immediate  usefulness,  and  at  the  same  time  better  trained, 
are  being  turned  out  year  after  year. 

Mr.  Taylor  sweepingly  declares  that  the  manufacturers  of  this 
country  do  not  want  anything  to  do  with  young  men  just  coming  from 
technical  schools, — that  they  would  rather  not  have  them,  and  find  them 
of  little  use  in  their  business.  This,  I  think,  is  a  great  exaggeration. 
Mr.  Taylor  has  had  a  long  experience,  and  an  opportunity  to  come  in 
contact  with  large  numbers  of  manufacturers;  nevertheless,  I  doubt  the 
accuracy  of  this  statement  that  the  graduate  is  not  wanted.  Certainly 
it  is  not  true,  according  to  my  experience,  in  the  case  of  graduates  in 
civil  engineering.  The  railroad  companies  of  this  country,  who  are 
perhaps  the  largest  employers  of  engineering  graduates,  desire  all  they 
can  get,  and  some  of  them  make  it  a  rule  to  recruit  their  forces,  if 
possible,  entirely  with  such  men.  Our  structural  companies  prefer 
them — in  fact,  desire  no  others  if  they  can  get  technical  graduates 
personally  recommended  by  their  teachers.  In  hydraulic  engineering, 
sanitary  engineering,  and  all  other  branches  of  the  civil  engineering 
profession,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  demand  for  these  men,  they  prove 
themselves  immediately  serviceable,  and  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases 
they  advance  rapidly  enough  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  their  technical 
education  has  been  of  great  advantage  to  them. 

A  similar  condition  seems  to  exist  with  reference  to  mining  and 
electrical  engineering.  I  am  told  that  your  great  electrical  company 
recruits  its  engineering  staff,  if  possible,  entirely  with  technical  grad- 
uates. As  for  mechanical  engineering,  I  am  sure  that  the  demand  for 
such  graduates  from  at  least  some  of  our  schools  is  far  above  the  sup- 
ply. If,  as  Mr.  Taylor  affirms,  the  manufacturers  of  the  country  do  not 
find  these  men  useful,  I  for  one  am  sorry  for  the  manufacturers.  I 
regret  that  they  are  so  far  behind  the  procession.  If  the  statement  is 
true,  perhaps  that  is  the  reason  why  those  manufacturers  consider  that 
they  need  so  much  protection  against  the  competition  of  foreign  coun- 
tries, like  France  and  Germany,  where  the  technically  trained  man  is 
unquestionably  fully  appreciated,  and  where  technical  schools  have  been 
longest  established. 

President  Draper  finely  expresses  the  value  of  a  higher  education 
when  he  says:  "With  an  independent,  sane,  balanced  character,  hav- 
ing the  elements  of  success  anyway,  the  advantage  of  a  college  train- 
ing cannot  be  over-estimated."  This  is  even  more  true  with  reference 
to  a  professional  education. 


234  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

The  young  man  from  a  technical  school  should  have  passed  through 
four  years  of  discipline — mental,  moral,  and  physical. 

His  physical  discipline  should  have  enabled  him  to  restrain  his 
appetites,  to  govern  his  passions,  to  make  his  hand  and  eye  quickly 
responsive  to  his  will,  to  be  a  master  of  himself.  His  step  should  be 
firm,  his  carriage  erect,  his  muscles  hard,  his  body  capable  of  enduring 
much  physical  fatigue. 

His  moral  education  should  have  made  him  realize  the  ethical 
principles  which  should  govern  a  man's  acts  in  this  world  and  regulate 
his  conduct  toward  his  fellow  men.  He  should  have  learned  to  be 
truthful  and  honest;  thoughtful  and  forgiving  toward  others;  stern 
and  unforgiving  toward  himself.  He  should  have  learned  the  supreme 
lesson  of  disinterestedness,  and  should  have  gained  the  power  of  work- 
ing for  the  sake  of  the  work  and  its  results  rather  than  for  his  own 
selfish  purposes ;  he  should  have  learned  to  look  down  with  something- 
like  contempt  upon  the  petty  things  of  this  world  and  to  realize  that 
they  amount  to  little  compared  with  the  perfecting  of  his  own  character. 

His  mental  training  should  have  enabled  him  to  estimate  justly 
his  own  powers  and  to  know  how  to  use  them.  He  should  have  had 
an  opportunity  to  "find  himself"  and  to  study  his  own  tendencies  and 
innate  talents ;  and  he  should,  therefore,  be  in  a  position  to  direct  him- 
self toward  the  field  of  human  endeavor  in  which  those  qualities  will 
enable  him  to  do  the  best  work.  He  should  have  learned  thoroughly 
the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  are  based  the  branch  of  en- 
.gineering  which  He  is  to  follow,  and  the  power  to  apply  them  intel- 
ligently and  correctly.  He  should  be  modest,  realizing  how  little  he 
knows  and  how  little  experience  he  possesses,  yet  self-reliant,  feeling 
that  he  has  mastered  the  fundamental  principles  which  he  is  to  apply 
in  the  world  of  action.  He  should  be  possessed  of  mental  courage, 
having  been  taught  to  study  a  subject  with  no  preconceived  ideas  or 
prejudices,  but  solely  intent  on  reaching  the  truth.  He  should  be  able 
to  observe  accurately,  and  to  reason  logically  from  premises  gained 
by  observation  or  otherwise. 

The  average  engineering  graduate,  and  especially  the  college  grad- 
uate, unfortunately  falls  far  short  of  this  ideal,  although  it  is  measur- 
ably within  the  reach  of  all.  The  causes  of  his  failure  are  partly  due 
to  the  student  himself,  partly  to  his  parents,  partly  to  the  college. 

Let  me  call  your  attention  to  some  of  his  shortcomings,  the  reasons 
for  them,  and  the  possible  remedies  for  them,  as  they  appear  to  me. 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING. 

In  the  first  place  we  are  too  apt  to  understand  by  the  term  "educa- 
tion" simply  mental  education;  moral  and  physical  education  or  train- 


SWAIN.  235 

ing  do  not  receive  the  proper  degree  of  attention.  In  some  of  our 
colleges  and  technical  schools  no  effort  whatever  is  made  to  give  physical 
training,  to  develop  a  sound  physique,  to  discover  and  point  out  physical 
defects,  and  to  apply  some  systematic  corrective.  Athletics,  as  at 
present  cultivated,  affect  only  the  few  men  who,  voluntarily  or  by 
solicitation,  engage  in  them.  The  great  mass  of  students  takes  no  part 
in  them,  except  to  look  on  and  applaud  when  the  home  team  wins.  In 
my  opinion,  every  college  and  technical  school  should  insist  on  some 
physical  training  for  every  one  of  its  students  who  is  not  physically 
incapable  of  it.  A  man  may,  by  reason  of  some  hereditary  weakness, 
or  accident,  be  obliged  forever  to  renounce  the  hope  of  being  physically 
strong.  That  is  his  misfortune,  and  it  may  exclude  him  from  the  pos- 
sibility of  practicing  certain  branches  of  the  profession ;  but  if  he  has 
the  other  qualities  which  lead  to  success,  he  need  have  no  misgivings. 
In  such  case,  he  should,  by  cultivating  temperance  in  all  things,  and 
by  careful  observance  of  the  rules  of  personal  hygiene,  preserve  to  him- 
self all  the  physical  vigor  possible.  The  man  who  is  physically  most 
robust  may  not  last  the  longest,  or  do  the  best  work  in  the  world. 
Success  depends,  not  upon  one  quality,  but  upon  the  proper  combina- 
tion, and  physical  strength  is  perhaps  the  quality  which  may  be  most 
easily  dispensed  with.  Probably  this  is  the  reason  why  it  has  been 
neglected. 

Nevertheless,  physical  training  should  be  insisted  upon.  It  should 
be  preceded  by  a  thorough  examination  of  each  man,  by  an  expert  who 
should  prescribe  what  exercises  will  best  strengthen  the  weak  spots 
and  develop  the  physical  endurance  which  is  likely  to  be  such  a  valu- 
able asset  to  an  engineer.  Every  student  would  also  gain  much  were 
he  required  to  take  a  course  in  physiology,  so  that  he  may  be  made 
acquainted  with  the  laws  of  personal  hygiene,  and  know  how  to  take  care 
of  himself  and  to  regulate  his  diet.  Physical  training  is  perhaps  of  more 
importance  to  the  engineer  than  to  members  of  any  other  profession, 
for  the  engineer  is  essentially  an  out-of-door  man,  or  is  likely  to  be 
one,  and  his  capacity  to  endure  fatigue  and  hardship  if  called  upon, 
may  be  an  essential  element  in  his  success.  It  is  hoped  that  such  a 
course  would  lead  the  student  to  abstain  from  all  but  the  most  sparing 
use  of  tobacco  and  alcoholic  beverages.  He  will  be  fortunate  if  it  leads 
him  to  renounce  them  entirely. 

MORAL  EDUCATION. 

In  the  second  place,  moral  education  is,  as  a  rule,  much  neglected. 
By  many  teachers  or  even  institutions  it  appears  to  be  considered  that 
this  should  be  left  entirely  to  the  home  and  the  church— that  the  school 
should  simply  train  the  mind.  This  seems  to  me  a  fundamental  mis- 


236  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

take.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  salvation  of  a  democratic  country 
like  this  lies  in  a  widely  diffused  and  high  standard  of  education.  It 
would  seem  clear,  however,  that  the  kind  of  education  upon  which  our 
salvation  will  depend  is  moral  education  rather  than  mental  education. 
Half  knowledge  is,  proverbially,  a  dangerous  thing;  and  a  smattering 
of  economics,  history,  language,  science,  or  what  not,  such  as  most 
students  acquire,  or  even  a  thorough  knowledge  of  them  will  not  enable 
a  man  to  perform  properly  the  duties  of  a  citizen,  if  he  has  failed  to 
become  imbued  with  the  moral  law,  and  to  realize  the  supreme  im- 
portance of  his  duties  toward  his  neighbor,  and  the  necessity  of  play- 
ing the  game  of  life  fairly.  Dishonesty  is  not  confined  to  the  poor  or 
the  ignorant;  it  is  doubtful  if  it  is  more  frequent  among  them,  on  the 
whole,  than  among  the  educated  and  the  well-to-do,  notwithstanding 
the  many  and  varied  temptations  which  poverty  necessarily  brings. 

Not  only,  therefore,  should  the  college  or  technical  school  require 
some  training  in  subjects  which  will  imbue  students  with  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  importance  of  the  moral  law,  from  the  professional  as  well 
as  from  the  personal  point  of  view,  but  every  teacher  should  consider 
himself,  so  far  as  consistent,  a  moral  teacher  and  should  seize  the  op- 
portunities, which  will  often  come,  to  enforce  a  moral  lesson. 

MENTAL  EDUCATION. 

But  coming  to  what  is  generally  considered  as  education,  that  is, 
mental  education,  most  graduates  of  our  colleges  and  technical  schools 
are  no  doubt  far  removed  from  the  ideal  which  has  been  sketched.  Not 
only  have  many  of  them  failed  to  master  thoroughly  the  fundamental 
principles  which  they  are  supposed  to  have  learned,  but  they  are  not 
able  to  observe  correctly  or  to  reason  logically;  and  they  have,  further- 
more, so  little  realization  of  their  own  defects  and  are  possessed  of  so 
little  modesty,  that  they  go  out  into  the  world  with  an  overweening 
and  unjustified  conceit,  with  an  unwillingness  to  begin  at  the  bottom 
and  learn  a  business  thoroughly,  and  with  an  inability  to  do  cheerfully, 
uncomplainingly,  persistently,  and  enthusiastically,  the  routine  work  or 
drudgery  of  which  the  greater  part  of  the  world's  work  consists,  and 
in  the  proper  doing  of  which  the  highest  discipline  lies.  They  are 
uneasy  if  they  do  not  quickly  receive  promotion ;  they  are  impatient  of 
the  self-taught,  unschooled  men  who  work  by  their  sides,  although  these 
men  may  be  their  superiors,  and  possessed  of  far  more  common  sense 
than  they ;  and  because  they  have  wasted  a  great  part  of  the  time  which 
has  been  devoted  to  their  education — perhaps  some  of  it  in  riotous  liv- 
ing— they  are  unable  to  appreciate  the  things  which  the  untaught  man 
may  have  learned  and  which  they  have  still  to  discover. 


SWAIN.  237 

MEASURING  EFFICIENCY. 

The  engineer,  in  estimating  the  performance  of  a  machine,  measures 
its  value  by  what  is  termed  its  "mechanical  efficiency."  This  is  the 
ratio  of  the  effective  work  done  by  the  machine  to  the  energy  which 
is  put  into  it.  The  higher  the  efficiency  the  better  the  machine.  The 
efficiency  of  a  business  may  be  measured  somewhat  in  the  same  manner ; 
in  this  case  best,  perhaps,  by  the  ratio  of  net  earnings  to  the  total  in- 
vestment, provided  that  the  investment  has  been  properly  expended. 
Of  course,  one  business  cannot  in  this  way  be  compared  directly  with 
another  on  the  same  basis,  for  in  one  sort  of  business  the  possible  net 
earnings  may  be  far  smaller  compared  with  the  total  investment  than 
is  the  case  in  another  kind  of  'business.  Nevertheless,  there  is  a  sort 
of  measure,  even  if  rough  compared  with  the  mechanical  one.  That 
measure  is  expressed  in  dollars.  Since  dollars  are  desirable  or  necessary 
to  those  who  have  invested  in  the  concern,  if  a  low  efficiency  is  shown — 
lower  than  should  reasonably  be  expected,  or  lower  than  is  shown  in 
similar  concerns  similarly  situated — there  will  probably  be  a  demand  for 
a  change  of  management. 

I  have  often  asked  myself  the  question:  What  is  the  efficiency 
of  education?  Unfortunately,  however,  there  is  no  measure  for  that 
efficiency.  The  manufacturer  takes  the  raw  material  out  of  which 
he  manufactures  his  produce — a  log  of  wood,  for  example ; — he  pays  for 
this  raw  material  and  for  the  labor  expended  upon  it,  in  money ;  fashions 
it  into  the  form  desired,  and  sells  it  for  other  money.  The  efficiency  of 
the  entire  process  can  be  measured,  if  not  with  exactness,  at  least  ap- 
proximately. 

In  education  the  raw  material  is  the  student.  Labor,  enthusiasm, 
and  money  are  expended  upon  him.  The  product  is  the  improvement 
which  results  to  him  mentally,  morally,  and  physically,  and  this  is  in- 
capable of  quantitative  estimation.  Nevertheless,  I  have  for  a  long 
time  believed  that  if  it  could  be  estimated  it  would  be  found  that  the 
efficiency  of  education  is  in  general  very  small;  that  the  result  in  im- 
proved physical  strength,  morality,  power  of  thought,  is  but  a  small 
fraction  of  the  energy  expended. 

But  even  if  the  efficiency  is  small,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  work 
is  not  worth  doing,  or  not  done  well.  The  light  given  out  by  the  elec- 
tric light  represents  less  than  1  per  cent  of  the  theoretical  energy  in  the 
coal,  yet  it  does  not  follow  that  electrical  lighting  is  not  worth  while.  It 
depends  upon  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  product.  So,  in  education,  to  in- 
spire and  discipline  even  a  few  young  men  may  be  worth  far  more  than 
all  the  effort  expended  upon  them  and  others,  for  it  means  keeping  alive 
the  torch  of  learning,  and  feeding  the  flame  of  research,  so  that  the 


238  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

treasures  of  thought  and  the  methods  of  scientific  investigation  may  be 
transmitted  to  those  who  shall  follow  us,  and  so  stimulate  intellectual 
progress  in  the  years  to  come. 

It  is  also  essential,  before  judging  of  the  real  value  of  higher  educa- 
tion, to  estimate  the  necessary  limitations  of  efficiency,  to  consider  the 
inevitable  losses  and  sources  of  waste,  and  thus  to  refer  the  final  pro- 
duct, not  to  a  purely  theoretical  and  impossible  maximum,  but  to  a 
practically  attainable  one;  in  other  words,  to  consider  the  reasons  for 
the  observed  defects,  and  to  ascertain  to  what  extent  they  are  practically 
remediable. 

These  defects  seem  to  arise  from  four  main  sources:  1,  the  student ; 
2,  the  parent;  3,  the  teacher;  4,  the  adminstration. 

THE  DEFECTS  DUE  TO  THE  STUDENT. 

The  main  source  of  the  inefficiency  of  education  and  the  principal 
justification  for  the  criticisms  which  have  been  made  upon  its  results, 
seem  to  me  to  lie  in  the  students  themselves.  They  go  to  the  college 
or  technical  school,  where  they  find  afforded  them  abundant  oppor- 
tunities; but  many  of  them  are  lacking  in  will,  and  are  not  able  to  avail 
themselves  of  them. 

While  the  manufacturer,  by  the  application  of  external  power,  molds 
his  raw  material  into  the  desired  form,  education  cannot  so  fashion  its 
raw  material.  The  fundamental  difficulty  with  education  seems  to  me 
to  be  the  fact  that  the  only  culture  or  training  which  does  a  man  any 
good  is  self-culture, — that  which  he  imposes  upon  himself.  The  teacher 
may  present  his  subject  with  perfect  clearness,  he  may  give  examples 
to  illustrate  it,  he  may  impress  upon  his  students  emphatically  the  neces- 
sity of  doing  certain  things,  he  may  tell  them  what  to  do,  and  what 
not  to  do,  what  mental  and  moral  habits  they  must  cultivate  and  which 
they  must  shun,  but  he  cannot  make  them  follow  his  injunctions.  Many 
of  them  will  be  found  to  lack  the  interest  and  the  will  to  see  the  neces- 
sity for  self-exertion,  and  to  impose  upon  themselves  the  moral  and 
mental  discipline  without  which  success  in  their  work  will  not  be  at- 
tained. 

This  may  not  be  due  to  any  lack  of  good  intention ;  they  may  be 
earnest  enough,  they  may  work  long  hours,  but  many  of  them  will  not 
work  in  the  right  way,  no  matter  how  often  they  are  shown,  nor  will 
they  take  the  trouble  to  learn  the  methods  of  logical  thinking.  They 
are  lacking  in  will.  They  do  not  realize  that  their  success  will  depend 
more  upon  their  wills  than  upon  their  brains. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Thomson,  in  his  most  interesting  book,  "Brain  and 
Personality,"  says  "we  can  make  our  own  brains,  so  far  as  special 
mental  functions  or  aptitudes  are  concerned,  if  only  we  have  wills  strong 


SWAIN.  239 

enough  to  take  the  trouble."  When  to  this  is  added  that  the  will,  like 
any  other  function  of  the  human  being,  can  be  trained,  and  its  strength 
increased,  we  have  the  fundamental  principles  of  self-culture,  which 
do  not  begin  to  be  appreciated  as  yet,  either  by  students  or  by  teachers. 

If  the  attempt  is  made  to  force  the  student  into  a  rigid  system  to 
control  his  every  movement,  he  may  be  to  some  extent  disciplined,  but  his 
interest,  his  initiative,  his  spontaneity,  and  his  power  of  self-control, 
will  not  be  developed.  It  is  the  old  question  whether  a  young  man  can 
be  trained  to  self-control  by  keeping  him  in  subjection, — whether  he  can 
be  trained  to  govern  himself  except  by  letting  him  try — which  seems  to 
have  been  decided,  and;  on  the  whole,  wisely  decided,  in  the  negative. 

A  certain  amount  of  military  training,  for  instance,  is  no  doubt  of 
advantage  to  every  one ;  it  develops  obedience,  promptness,  and  other 
similar  qualities;  but  it  does  not  train  the  will,  nor  teach  self-command, 
nor  stimulate  the  highest  faculties.  Soldiers  are  not  noted  for  self- 
control  as  compared  with  those  who  have  not  been  exposed  to  military 
discipline.  Indeed,  the  moment  the  usual  pressure  is  relaxed  they  are 
only  too  apt  to  show  the  absence  of  that  quality ;  nor  have  many  advances 
in  learning  or  in  the  arts  come  from  military  men.  At  some  time  in  a 
young  man's  life,  he  must  be  thrown  upon  his  own  responsibilities,  and 
it  would  scarcely  seem  wise  to  defer  that  point  until  the  end  of  the 
college  course.  If  he  is  not  ready  to  learn  that  lesson  in  college  by  the 
time  he  is  17  or  18  years  old,  there  is  a  strong  probability  that  he  ought 
not  to  be  sent  to  college  at  all,  but  that  he  should  be  made  to  learn  the 
lesson,  if  possible,  in  the  harder  school  of  the  outside  world;  and  let 
such  a  man  be  thankful  if  it  prove  a  school  of  hard  knocks. 

Right  here  it  may  be  remarked  that  much  of  the  criticism  of  our 
schools  would  not  be  made  if  it  were  recognized  that  the  trouble  is 
not  alone  what  they  do  or  what  leave  undone,  but  that  the  right  boys 
are  not  always  sent  to  college.  There  are  multitudes  of  young  men 
there  who  never  ought  to  have  been  sent — who  are  not  qualified  to  take 
advantage  of  the  kind  of  training  which  the  college  really  ought  to  give, 
and  which  is  the  very  best  kind  for  those  who  can  avail  themselves  of  it ; 
whose  will  and  whose  natural  ability  will  not  justify  a  higher  education; 
one  thousand  dollar  men  who  are  being  given  a  five  thousand  dollar  edu- 
cation. And  there  are  also  multitudes  of  young  men  who  would  take  ad- 
vantage of  such  opportunities,  who  cannot  afford  to  do  so. 

One  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  in  our  educational  progress,  to  my 
mind,  is  the  increasing  opportunity  for  deserving  young  men  to  get  all 
the  education  which  they  are  good  for,  provided  it  does  not  give  them 
more  than  they  are  good  for. 


240  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

Our  schools,  from  the  bottom  up,  should  be  better  designed  to  pre- 
pare men  for  their  proper  vocations  in  life — industrial,  farming,  or  pro- 
fessional— to  guide  each  man  better  into  his  proper  field,  and  to  prevent 
him  from  entering  into  fields  for  which  he  is  not  suited.  It  is  far  better 
to  be  a  good  mechanic  than  a  poor  engineer  or  lawyer,  and  there  are  just 
as  many  opportunities  for  a  good  mechanic  to  be  advanced  to  responsible 
administrative  positions  as  for  the  poor  engineer.  One  of  the  main 
problems  of  education  would  seem  to  be  to  guide  each  man  into  his 
proper  place  so  far  as  possible. 

No  better  proof  of  what  has  been  said  is  needed  than  the  fact  that 
so  many  men  who  have  attained  success  despite  the  lack  of  educational 
advantages,  send  their  own  sons  to  college,  realizing  how  much  they 
themselves  might  have  gained  from  such  an  opportunity.  Unfortunately, 
too  many  such  parents  fail  to  realize  how  much  of  their  own  success  has 
been  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  obliged  to  overcome  difficulties ; 
they  do  not  train  their  sons  to  do  the  same ;  they  give  them  too  much 
money  to  spend,  and  thus  they  send  them  to  college  unprepared  to  utilize 
the  advantages  presented. 

We  talk  much  of  opportunity.  We  do  not  sufficiently  realize  that 
necessity  is,  on  the  whole,  a  greater  element  in  success,  and  a  better 
friend,  than  opportunity. 

There  are  many  other  difficulties  which  arise  with  the  student,  but 
I  need  not  dwell  upon  them.  Many  students  are  "sent"  to  college ; 
they  do  not  go,  they  are  sent.  They  take  little  interest  in  their  work; 
their  main  object  is  to  get  through.  When  they  study  a  subject,  their 
minds  are  fixed  upon  the  mark  which  they  are  to  receive,  on  the  examina- 
tion which  they  are  to  pass.  Instead  of  being  disinterestedly  concerned 
with  getting  the  most  they  can  out  of  the  opportunity  which  the  course 
presents,  they  will  procure  old  examination  papers  and  a  tutor,  and  get 
themselves  coached  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  scrape  through,  after 
which  they  will  promptly  dismiss  the  subject  from  their  minds.  A  long 
experience  in  teaching  has  convinced  me  that  no  amount  of  effort  by 
the  teacher  will  have  much  effect  in  the  case  of  some  students  in  induc- 
ing them  .to  take  a  different  attitude. 

The  fundamental  difficulty,  then,  with  the  student,  is  that  discipline 
and  correct  thinking  are  not  things  which  can  be  imposed  upon  him 
from  without,  but  things  which  he  must  acquire  for  himself  and  which 
he  can  only  learn  to  acquire  for  himself  by  being  given  the  opportunity. 
To  use  a  favorite  illustration,  the  school  is  not  a  restaurant  where  a 
man  goes  to  be  filled  up,  but  it  is  a  gymnasium  where  he  finds  the  appara- 
tus which,  if  used  as  he  is  shown,  will  develop  him  as  he  ought  to  be 
developed. 


SWAIN.  241 

THE  DEFECTS  DUE  TO  THE  PARENTS. 

Right  here  is  where  the  parent  must  bear  some  share  of  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  lack  of  efficiency  of  education.  Time  will  not  per- 
mit of  an  elaboration  of  this  branch  of  the  subject.  It  will  suffice  to  say 
that  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  teacher  will  be  of  little  avail  unless  with 
the  cordial  co-operation  and  support  of  the  home  influences. 

Mental  discipline  at  college  cannot  win  against  social  and  financial 
dissipation  at  home,  and  all  the  efforts  of  the  teacher  to  enforce  the  im- 
portance of  self-culture  and  training  of  the  will  will  come  to  naught 
if  the  parents  think,  as  many  do,  that  the  son  is  sent  to  school  to  buy 
an  education  as  he  buys  a  suit  of  clothes.  To  a  parent  who  was  finding 
fault  with  a  teacher  for  the  slow  progress  of  his  son,  the  teacher  re- 
plied that  he  could  not  put  brains  and  will  into  the  boy  as  well  as  in- 
struction. 

One  great  difficulty  with  the  student  of  engineering  arises  from  his 
lack  of  knowledge  of  the  practical  applications  of  the  subjects  which 
he  is  studying,  and  further,  from  the  failure  to  realize  the  necessity  for 
a  higher  education  and  the  fact  that  there  are  many  men  in  what  might 
be  called  the  lower  ranks  of  life  who  are  just  as  bright  as  he  is.  If  the 
student  from  a  wealthy  family  could  be  made  to  realize  that  the  son  of 
the  blacksmith  around  the  corner  has  just  as  good  a  brain  as  he,  it 
would  not  only  make  him  more  democratic  and  a  better  citizen,  with 
more  respect  for  the  opinions  of  others,  but  it  would  also  make  him 
realize  that  if  he  wishes  to  win  a  high  place  in  engineering,  it  will  be 
necessary  for  him  to  get  something  which  the  blacksmith's  son  does  not 
have  and  cannot  easily  get.  Experience  would  be  open  to  both  of  them, 
but  education  might  be  open  to  only  one. 

The  necessity  of  earning  his  living,  the  realization  that  there  are 
plenty  of  young  men  in  overalls,  with  as  good  native  ability  as  he,  are 
two  powerful  incentives  which  will  make  a  young  man  appreciate  the 
value  of  an  education.  In  order  to  develop  this  appreciation,  students 
of  engineering  should  gain  some  practice  in  the  workshop  or  in  the 
field ;  and  they  should  make  it  a  rule  if  possible  from  the  time  they  enter 
the  college— or  better,  from  the  time  they  enter  the  high  school — to 
spend  their  vacations  in  some  occupation  in  which  they  will  be  earning 
their  own  way. 

DEFECTS  IN  THE  INSTRUCTION. 

But  while  the  main  difficulty,  in  my  opinion,  lies  with  the  student 
himself,  and  with  his  parents,  there  is  undoubtedly,  in  most  cases,  just 
room  for  criticism  of  the  teaching  in  our  schools.  Among  the  defects 
commonly  found,  a  few  may  be  mentioned : 


242  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

1.  There  is  too  great  prevalence  of  courses  which  are  informa- 
tion courses  only,  and  a  lack  of  realization  on  the  part  of  the  teacher 
that  his  main  object  should  be  to  teach  the  student  to  think.  We  may 
well  reflect  upon  Locke's  statement  that  the  objects  of  education  in 
their  relative  rank  are  as  follows: 

1.  Virtue. 

2.  Wisdom. 

3.  Good  breeding. 

4.  Learning. 

Learning — to  which  we  almost  confine  our  attention— placed  last. 
And  even  with  reference  to  learning,  we  often  misplace  the  emphasis. 
The  student  must  of  course  be  taught  many  facts,  but  the  main  emphasis 
should  be  laid  upon  the  use  which  is  made  of  those  facts.  Logical 
thinking  is  the  main  object.  If  the  student  gains  this,  he  can  reason 
upon  new  facts  and  in  any  subject:  if  he  does  not,  he  simply  uses  in  a 
rule-of-thumb  way  the  few  specific  facts  which  he  has  learned. 

2.  There  seems  to  me  to  be  an  undue  use  of  the  lecture  system. 
This  is  a  very  serious  evil,  in  my  opinion,  and  unfortunately  seems 
to  be  increasing  and  to  be  extending  even  into  the  secondary  schools.  A 
young  man  may  be  interested  and  may  gain  some  information  by  listen- 
ing to  a  lecture,  but  he  will  not  gain  much  mental  training.  The  use 
of  lectures  without  text  books  seems  particularly  futile,  except,  perhaps, 
in  some  special  subjects.  The  student  should  have  a  text  book  whidh  he 
is  required  to  study.  The  exercises  in  the  class  room  should  consist  in 
finding  out  whether  he  has  studied  it  and  mastered  it,  and  if  not,  why 
not;  and  a  certain  portion  of  time  should  be  taken  in  enlarging  and  ex- 
plaining the  subject  itself. 

A  quiz  or  a  recitation  enables  the  teacher  to  discover  the  mental 
defects  of  his  pupils  and  to  point  them  out.  Such  a  process  is  indeed 
sometimes  discouraging  to  the  student.  He  would  prefer  to  remain  in 
blissful  ignorance  of  his  defects,  and  to  go  through  his  courses  believing 
that  he  understands  them  and  is  able  to  think ;  but  a  knowledge  of  one's 
defects  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom.  We  all,  of  course,  have  defects,  but 
we  never  remedy  them  unless  we  realize  that  we  have  them  and  what 
they  are.  The  student,  if  he  takes  the  proper  attitude  of  mind,  should 
realize  that  one  of  the  main  things  that  he  goes  to  college  for  is  to  have 
his  defects  pointed  out  to  him,  and  he  should  not  thereby  be  discouraged, 
but  should  have  the  will  to  impose  upon  himself  a  discipline  which 
will  correct  them. 

Grote,  in  his  history  of  Greece,  makes  the  following  statement  with 
reference  to  the  teaching  of  Socrates: 


SWAIN,  243 

"The  Socratic  dialectics,  clearing  away  from  the  mind  its  fancied 
knowledge  and  laying  bare  the  real  ignorance,  produced  an  immediate 
effect  like  the  touch  of  the  torpedo.  The  newly  created  consciousness 
of  ignorance  was  alike  unexpected,  painful,  and  humilating — a  season  of 
doubt  and  discomfort,  yet  combined  with  an  internal  working  and  yearn- 
ing after  truth,  never  before  experienced.  Such  intellectual  quickening, 
which  could  never  commence  until  the  mind  had  been  disabused  of  its 
original  illusion  of  false  knowledge,  was  considered  by  Socrates  not 
merely  as  the  index  and  precursor,  but  as  the  indespensable  condition  of 
future  progress." 

Can  we  improve  upon  this  principle  today?  Do  we  sufficiently  ap- 
preciate and  use  it? 

Until  the  lecture  system  is  largely  done  away  with,  or  reduced  to 
an  absolute  minimum,  many  elaborate  courses  will  continue  to  be  ac- 
companied with  little  result.  Of  course  there  is  a  difference  between 
subjects ;  some  require  experimental  demonstration,  and  in  them  lectures 
may  properly  form  a  considerable  portion  of  the  course,  while  others 
should  be  conducted  almost  entirely  with  the  use  of  the  text  book  and  the 
recitation.  The  point  is.  that  except  for  thoroughly  disciplined  students, 
who  already  know  how  to  think  and  how  to  govern  themselves,  lectures 
should,  in  my  opinion,  be  reduced  in  each  case  to  the  minimum. 

3.  Another  fault,  which  seems  very  common,  is  that  no  attention 
is  paid  in  many  institutions  to  teaching  the  student  how  to  study.     Young 
men  animated  with  the  best  intentions,  work  hard  but  ineffectively  in 
the  endeavor  to  master  the  subjects  presented  to  them.     It  is  not  suf- 
ficiently realized  that  hard  work  is  not  what  is  needed,  and  will  never 
bring  a  man  success  unless  it  is  also  effective  work.     A  man   should 
train  himself  to  work  like  a  well  oiled  machine,   accomplishing  a  re- 
sult easily,  quickly,  and  without  friction.     Some  instruction  with  refer- 
ence to  the  proper  methods  of  study  would  seem  to  be  essential,  yet  I 
have  rarely  known  of  such  instruction  being  given. 

4.  Equally  striking  is   the   fact  that   in   many   institutions  no  at- 
tempt is  made  to  teach  methods  of  reasoning  in  general,  except  in  so  far 
as  it  is  done  in  connection  with  the  special  courses.    In  the  Middle  Ages 
logic  occupied  an  important  part  in  higher  training,  and  it  was  generally 
taught  in  universities  up  to  within  a  few  decades.     Since  that  time  it 
seems  to  have  largely  disappeared,  and  in  some  of  our  higher  schools 
little  or  no  attempt  is  now  made,  except,  as  already  stated,  in  connec- 
tion with  individual  courses,  to  teach  the  student  the  general  rules  of  cor- 
rect reasoning,  in  other  words,  the  principles  of  logic. 

It  is  true  that  the  study  of  formal  logic  was  carried  entirely  too 
far,  applied  to  improper  purposes,  and,  in  a  word,  entirely  misapplied 


244  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

and  exaggerated.  It  would,  be  absurd  to  revive  in  their  old  form  the 
dialectics  of  the  schoolmen.  But  that  is  no  reason  why  logic  should 
be  neglected;  and  while  the  capable  instructor  may  teach  much  logic 
in  a  course  not  sufficiently  devoted  to  that  subject,  the  fact  remains  that 
many,  if  not  most,  of  the  graduates  of  our  technical  schools  are  not 
capable  of  independent  logical  reasoning,  even  on  scientific  subjects. 

It  is,  I  think,  not  sufficiently  recognized,  even  by  teachers,  that 
there  are  certain  methods  of  logical  thinking,  certain  fallacies  which 
must  be  guarded  against,  certain  modes  of  detecting  these  fallacies,  and 
certain  tests  of  correct  results.  Most  students  seem  to  think  that  reason- 
ing is  a  natural  function  of  the  mind  just  as  walking  is  of  the  legs; 
but  even  if  it  be  true  that  "the  brain  secretes  thought  as  the  liver  secretes 
bile"  it  certainly  is  not  true  that  it  naturally  secretes  logical  thought. 
Though  a  man  have  a  mind,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  can  think  cor- 
rectly. He  must  have  the  logical  principles  upon  which  correct  think- 
ing depends,  and  there  are  many  reasons  for  believing  that  he  will 
learn  them  best  by  consciously  studying  the  subject  of  logic  rather  than 
by  taking  it  as  the  by-product  of  other  courses. 

Locke,  in  the  preface  of  his  most  valuable  little  book  on  "The 
Conduct  of  the  Understanding,"  makes  the  following  remark:  , 

"I  cannot  think  any  parent  or  instructor  justified  in  neglecting  to 
put  this  little  treatise  in  the  hands  of  a  boy  about  the  time  when  the 
reasoning  faculties  become  developed.  It  will  give  him  a  sober  and 
serious,  not  flippant  or  self-conceited,  independency  of  thinking;  and, 
while  it  teaches  how  to  distrust  ourselves  and  to  watch  those  prejudices 
which  necessarily  grow  up  from  one  cause  or  another,  will  inspire  a 
reasonable  confidence  in  what  he  has  well  considered,  by  taking  off  a 
little  of  that  deference  to  authority  which  is  the  more  to  be  regretted  in 
its  excess  that,  like  its  cousin-german,  party-spirit,  it  is  frequently 
united  to  loyalty  of  heart  and  the  generous  enthusiasm  of  youth." 

:  I  have  talked  with  many  students  from  many  universities,  technical 
schools,  and  preparatory  schools,  and  the  replies  received  from  most  of 
them  indicate  that  during  their  whole  preparatory  and  college  course 
they  have  never  been  given  any  instruction  corresponding  to  that  con- 
tained in  this  book.  The  result  is  that  fallacies  which  any  mind  trained 
in  logic  would  be  able  to  observe,  pass  the  minds  of  these  men  without 
discovery. 

I  am  aware  of  -the  fact  that  courses  in  logic  are  offered  in 
many  of  our  universities,  and  taken  by  a  considerable  number  of  stu- 
dents in  the  aggregate,  but  I  am  also  aware  of  the  fact  that  in  many  in- 
stitutions, and  particularly  in  technical  schools,  no  such  courses  whatever 
are  offered;  and  furthermore,  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  institution  in 


SWAIN.  245 

which  such  a  course  is  required.  I  am  further  aware  of  the  fact  that  no 
amount  of  instruction  would  even  result  in  making  some  men  think 
logically. 

I  make  a  plea  for  the  restoration  of  logic  in  some  specific  form  as  a 
required  subject  in  the  curriculum  of  every  higher  institution  of  learn- 
ing. 

The  study  of  logic,  however,  must,  of  course,  be  co-ordinated  with 
other  studies,  and  with  the  training  of  the  powers  of  observation  and 
mental  discrimination  as  to  the  facts;  for  unless  we  make  sure  of  the 
facts  which  constitute  our  premises,  the  use  of  the  syllogism  may  only 
result  in  multiplying  error  instead  of  disclosing  truth. 

5.  A  further  difficulty  in  education  arises  from  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  good  teachers,  and  in  some  cases  from  the  practical  impos- 
sibility of  getting  rid  of  poor  ones.  A  large  part  of  this  difficulty  is  no 
doubt  due  to  the  enormous  increase,  within  the  past  few  decades,  in  the 
number  of  teachers  required,  corresponding  to  the  remarkable  growth 
of  high  schools  and  the  enormous  expansion  of  colleges  and  universities. 
For  instance,  in  1860  the  number  of  high  schools  in  the  United  States 
was  44;  in  1870,  160;  in  1880,  800;  in  1890,  2,526,  and  in  1900,  6,005. 
In  1908  the  number  of  teachers  in  our  higher  schools,  -  including  col- 
leges, was  about  seven  times  what  is  was  in  1870.  There  appears  to  be 
a  real  difficulty  in  obtaining  competent  teachers  for  high  schools  and 
colleges,  particularly  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  remuneration  offered 
in  this  profession  is  much  less  than  that  which  a  capable  man  may 
expect  to  obtain  in  business  or  in  one  of  the  other  professions. 

If  a  man  is  not  possessed  of  independent  means,  and  if  he  wishes  to 
marry  and  bring  up  a  family  comfortably,  he  will  find  the  attractions  of 
the  teaching  profession  from  this  point  of  view  very  small.  This  is 
abundantly  shown  by  the  statistics  recently  given  in  an  article  in 
"Science"  discussing  the  status  of  the  assistant  professor.  The  result 
is  that  many  men  probably  go  into  teaching  because  they  would  not 
succeed  in  the  world  outside;  and  in  technical  subjects  such  men  may 
often  fail  to  give  to  the  students  the  qualities  necessary  for  success  in 
the  world. 

Furthermore,  in  many  of  our  institutions  there  seems  to  be  little 
or  no  attempt  made  to  appoint  teachers  with  reference  to  their  teaching 
ability,  or  subsequently  to  exercise  any  oversight  over  the  conduct  of 
their  classes  or  the  methods  which  they  use.  A  man  is  appointed  to  a 
teaching  position  and  is  allowed  to  conduct  his  classes  as  he  pleases. 
This  is,  of  course,  more  true  in  some  institutions  than  in  others,  but  I  be- 
lieve that  at  least  the  criticism  is  well  founded  that  not  enough  care  is 


246  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

taken  by  those  in  charge  of  our  educational  institutions  or  of  the  depart- 
ments thereof,  to  see  that  really  effective  teaching  is  done. 

On  the  one  hand,  the  teacher  may  make  things  too  plain  to  the 
students.  When  the  student  meets  a  difficulty,  the  teacher  may  be 
either  so  anxious  to  show  that  he  understands  how  to  solve  it;  or,  in 
the  kindness  of  his  heart  he  may  be  so  anxious  to  help  the  student,  that 
he  lifts  him  bodily  over  the  difficulty  without  making  him  exercise  his 
own  powers  at  all.  The  only  way  that  we  become  strong  is  by  overcom- 
ing difficulties ;  we  do  not  gain  strength  so  long  as  our  difficulties  are 
overcome  for  us  by  others ;  yet  this  is  too  often  done  in  teaching. 

Or,  it  may  be  that  the  teacher  is  entirely  unable  to  see  the  real 
difficulty  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil,  and  therefore,  while  he  may  try  to 
explain  it,  he  may  only  succeed  in  throwing  more  obscurity  upon  the 
subject. 

I  believe  it  would  be  desirable  if  the  teachers  in  our  institutions 
of  learning  would  more  often  discuss  among  themselves — perhaps  at 
stated  meetings — the  methods  of  teaching  to  be  used;  perhaps  with  the 
co-operation  and  criticism  of  some  of  the  best  students  or  recent  gradu- 
ates. It  stands  to  reason,  of  course,  that  every  teacher  ought  to  have 
had  some  training  in  pedagogics ;  yet  I  believe  that  such  training  is  rare 
in  the  teachers  in  our  engineering  schools,  and  it  is  perhaps  too  much  to 
expect  it.  But  it  is  not  too  much  to  expect  that  if  they  begin  the  career 
of  teachers  they  should  then  devote  some  time  to  the  study  of  the 
subject,  or  submit  for  a  time,  to  careful  oversight  of  their  work.  Un- 
fortunately, academic  freedom  is  too  often  interpreted  to  mean,  not  simply 
the  freedom  of  students  to  do  as  they  please,  but  the  freedom  of  teachers 
to  do  the  same  entirely  without  criticism  from  any  one ;  and  some  teachers 
who  may  be  doing  ineffective  work  would  probably  strongly  resent  any 
suggestion  that  they  should  change  their  methods.  The  result  of  this 
condition  is  that,  in  many  institutions,  courses  may  be  found  which 
have  been  given  for  years,  which  the  best  students  and  alumni  would 
admit  to  be  entirely  unprofitable,  and  which,  perhaps,  the  authorities  of 
the  institution  know  to  be  ineffective ;  and  yet,  with  our  present  methods 
of  university  organization,  there  seems  to  be  no  way  of  remedying  such 
a  situation,  any  attempt  to  remedy  it  being  considered  either  as  arbitrary 
interference  or  a  violation  of  the  so-called  educational  democracy  under 
which  every  man  is  allowed  to  do  as  he  pleases. 

Criticism  of  educational  methods  should,  of  course,  always  be  kindly 
and  it  should  also  recognize  the  inherent  difference  between  the  conduct 
of  education  and  the  conduct  of  a  business  enterprise,  that  in  the  form- 
er individualism  should  be  encouraged  rather  than  suppressed.  In 
corporation  management  it  may  be  desirable  or  necessary  to  reduce  the 


SWAIN.  247 

work  of  the  different  departments  to  a  rigid  routine;  while  in  education 
such  a  proceeding  would  be  most  unfortunate.  Nevertheless,  individual- 
ism should  not  be  allowed  to  override  the  fundamental  principles  of  ped- 
agogics, nor  be  carried  beyond  reasonable  limits.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  teacher  is  in  a  position  where  he  can  do  not  only  much  good, 
but  much  harm,  and  care  should  be  taken  that  the  latter  is  not  the 
result  of  his  efforts. 

It  is  in  regard  to  this  phase  of  the  question  that  the  difference  be- 
tween the  conduct  of  an  institution  of  learning  and  of  a  business  is 
perhaps  most  marked.  In  the  latter  there  is  a  concentration  of  re- 
sponsibility and  a  supervision  of  methods.  A  new  president  may  en- 
tirely reorganize  a  railroad  system,  may  cause  the  accounts  to  be  kept 
in  an  entirely  new  manner,  may  readjust  the  relations  of  the  different 
departments,  may  require  the  head  of  any  department  to  have  his 
work  done  in  an  entirely  different  way -from  that  in  which  it  had  been 
done  before,  and  all  this  without  offense  to  any  one.  Such  a  method  of 
procedure,  even  if  necessary,  would  be  likely  to  be  considered  nothing 
short  of  tyranny  in  an  educational  institution,  and  the  limitations  to  acts 
of  this  kind  have  already  been  suggested ;  yet  there  should  be  some  happy 
medium,  some  way  by  which  the  relations  of  teachers  to  each  other, 
to  the  head  of  departments,  and  to  the  president,  could  be  easily  adjusted 
and  without  friction,  in  such  a  way  that  radical  innovations  might  be 
brought  about. 

If  a  new  university  president  has  individual  ideas,  is  there  any 
good  reason  why  he  should  not  be  enabled  to  carry  them  out,  and  why 
he  should  not  be  loyally  supported  in  doing  so,  by  trustees  and  faculty, 
even  though  his  ideas  are  contrary  to  individual  opinion?  Until  this 
can  be  done,  until  responsibility  can  be  concentrated,  and  until  means 
and  methods  are  under  practical  control  of  the  persons  so  made  re- 
sponsible, there  will  be  no  hope  of  obtaining  the  highest  efficiency  in 
education. 

With  reference  to  this  matter  I  do  not  know  of  any  more  forceful 
statement  than  that  made  by  Andrew  S.  Draper  in  his  remarkable  sug- 
gestive book  on  "American  Education,"  in  which  he  says: 

"The  very  life  of  the  institution  depends  upon  eliminating  weak  and 
unproductive  teachers,  and  upon  reinforcing  the  teaching  body  with  the 
very  best  in  the  world.  Unless  there  is  scientific  aggressiveness  in  the 
search  of  new  knowledge  some  very  serious  claims  must  be  abandoned 
and  some  attitudes  completely  changed.  No  board  ever  got  rid  of  a 
teacher  or  an  investigator— no  matter  how  weak  or  absurd— except  for 
immorality  known  to  the  public.  The  reason  why  a  board  cannot  deal 
with  such' a  matter  is  the  lack  of  individual  confidence  about  what  to  do 


248  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

and  of  individual  responsibility  for  doing  nothing.  But,  with  three  or 
four  hundred  in  the  faculty,  the  need  of  attention  to  this'  vital  matter 
is  always  present.  No  board  knows  where  new  men  of  first  quality  are 
to  be  found ;  no  board  can  conduct  the  negotiations  for  them,  or  fit  them 
into  an  harmonious  and  effective  whole.  The  man  who  is  fitted  for  this 
great  burden,  and  who  puts  his  conscience  up  against  his  responsibility, 
can  hardly  be  expected  to  tolerate  the  opposition  of  an  unsubstantial  sen  - 
timent  which  would  protect  a  teacher  at  all  hazards,  or  the  more  subtle 
combination  of  selfish  influences  which  puts  personal  over  and  above 
public  interests  when  the  upbuilding  of  a  university  is  the  task  in  hand." 

There  is  another  point,  however,  in  connection  with  the  teachers 
which  must  never  be  lost  sight  of,  and  that  is  the  responsibility  of  the 
institution  to  a  teacher  who  has  been  kept  in  his  position  for  a  consider- 
able length  of  time.  Unlike  the  work  of  business,  the  work  of  teach- 
ing undoubtedly  tends  to  unfit  a  man  for  other  occupations.  The  aver- 
age teacher  is  out  of  contact  with  business  affairs  and,  as  a  rule,  confined 
within  the  narrow  limits  of  his  educational  activities.  It  is  true,  particu- 
larly in  applied  science,  that  many  teachers  have  opportunities  for  doing 
a  considerable  amount  of  outside  work  and  for  building  up  a  consulting 
practice,  so  that  they  are  not  wholly  dependent  upon  their  teaching, 
and  if  they  should  discontinue  the  latter  they  would  still  be  able  to  find 
profitable  employment.  The  number  of  such  men,  however,  is  compara- 
tively few,  and  I  think  it  is  fair  to  say  that  the  man  who  has  remained  in 
teaching  for  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  years  will  generally  find  himself 
little  adapted  for  anything  else.  In  this  lies  the  great  importance  of 
carefully  scrutinizing  the  work  of  the"  young  men  in  the  teaching  pro- 
fession. An  institution  owes  it  to  itself  and  to  them  to  keep  only  the 
men  who  show  conclusively  their  ability  to  succeed  in  the  profession, 
and  to  get  rid  of  the  others  before  it  is  too  late. 

If  the  institution  keeps  men  who  are  incompetent  teachers,  beyond 
the  age  when  they  are  able  to  find  other  employment,  it  assumes  a  re- 
sponsibility for  providing  for  them  in  some  way  which  it  cannot  shirk ; 
yet  it  is  very  easy  to  keep  a  teacher  in  a  subordinate  position  from  mere 
force  of  habit  or  because  no  better  man  seems  immediately  available, 
although  it  might  be  easily  foreseen  that  the  time  would  come  when  for 
the  good  of  the  institution  he  ought  to  be  replaced. 

6.  Another  common  defect  in  our  teaching  methods  appears  to  be 
a  lack  of  coordination.  In  many  of  our  higher  institutions,  each  teacher 
seems  to  be  an  unrestrained  individual,  following  his  own  way,  not  only 
teaching  his  own  subject  in  such  manner  as  he  pleases,  but  arranging  his 
course  and  planning  the  ground  to  be  covered  without  regard  to  any- 
body else.  This  criticism,  if  justified,  is  more  apt  to  be  applicable  to  our 


"  SWAIN.  249 

colleges  than  to  technical  schools  in  which  a  required  curriculum  is 
prescribed  and  in  which  there  must  be  a  sequence  of  studies;  but  even 
in  these  there  appears  to  be  some  room  for  improvement. 

When  absolute  independence  of  teaching  is  combined  with  the  lec- 
ture system,  it  may  perhaps  fairly  be  said  that  in  many  cases  the  stu- 
dents simply  listen  to  the  individual  views  of  their  teachers  instead  of 
being  submitted  to  a  systematic  and  continuous  course  of  discipline, 
which  would  seem  to  be  the  main  object  of  education.  It  stands  to 
reason  that  there  should  be  close  coordination  between  all  the  subjects 
taught  in  any  institution,  so  far  as  they  are  related  to  each  other.  There 
should  be  no  over-lapping,  except  as  this  may,  after  definite  considera- 
tion, be  determined  to  be  necessary  or  useful  for  purposes  of  repetition. 
One  subject  should  naturally  lead  to  another,  and  the  sequence  from  the 
elementary  to  the  difficult  should  be  so  continuous  that  no  breaks  should 
be  perceptible.  Whether  the  elective  system  or  the  prescribed  curriculum 
is  in  use  makes  little  difference,  so  long  as  each  student  is  made  to  pass 
through  a  systematic  course,  involving  continuous  mental  discipline. 

DEFECTS  DUE* TO  ADMINISTRATION. 

With  reference  to  administration,  the  fundamental  limitation  to 
efficiency  seems  to  me  to  lie  in  a  fact  which  has  already  been  referred  to, 
namely,  that  the  administrators — that  is  to  say  the  trustees — have  no 
financial  interest  at  stake.  This  is  the  fundamental  difference  between 
the  administration  of  a  college  and  the  administration  of  a  business  con- 
cern. Where  men  have  no  financial  interest  they  cannot  be  expected  to 
realize  fully  the  responsibility,  nor  will  they  be  apt  energetically  to  take 
the  necessary  steps  to  insure  efficiency. 

For  this  reason,  among  others,  I  do  not  believe  that  education 
ever  can  be  as  efficient  as  business.  I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  fact, 
of  course,  that  there  are  many  men  who,  if  they  accept  positions  on  a 
board  of  college  trustees,  will  take  the  same  pains  and  feel  the  same  re- 
sponsibility as  if  they  were  trustees  of  a  business  corporation  in  which 
their  own  money  as  well  as  the*  funds  of  widows  and  orphans  were  in- 
vested ;  but  this  is  somewhat  contrary  to  human  nature  and  must  always 
be  the  exception.  Money,  or  rather  the  love  of  it,  may  or  may  not  be 
the  root  of  all  evil,  but  it  certainly  comes  very  near  being  the  source 
of  all  efficiency. 

This  lack  of  concentration  of  responsibilty  is  found  not  only  in 
boards  of  trustees,  but  through  the  whole  educational  staff.  The  sys- 
tem of  faculty  government  is  not  conducive  to  it.  Instead  of  one  man 
being  at  the  head  of  one  branch  of  the  work  and  being  responsible  for 
it,  he  is  in  some  instances  not  allowed  to  carry  out  his  own  ideas  even 
in  matters  which  concerns  his  own  branch  alone,  except  in  regard  to  the 


250  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

subjects  which  he  individually  teaches.  His  views  and  perhaps  those  of 
the  entire  staff  in  his  own  branch,  may  be  overborne  by  the  votes  in 
the  faculty  of  men  in  entirely  different  branches  who,  perhaps,  know 
little  or  nothing  of  the  merits  of  the  question  involved. 

Of  course,  this  may  in  some  instances  prove  a  benefit,  for  heads  of 
departments  are  not  exempt  from  error,  and  are  not  always  wise.  The 
point  is,  that  responsibility  is  divided,  and  if  those  upon  whom  re- 
sponsibility is  placed  are,  as  they  should  be,  equal  to  the  task,  a  division 
of  responsibility  is  always  bad.  Again,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Draper, 
''University  policies  are  not  to  be  settled  by  majority  vote.  They  are 
to  be  determined  by  expert  opinion." 

Nothing  further  need  be  said  with  reference  to  this  phase  of  the 
question.  Without  concentration  of  responsibility,  efficiency  is  undoubt- 
edly diminished,  and  without  direct  financial  interest,  responsibility  will 
not  be  heavily  assumed.  When  we  combine  a  lack  of  direct  financial 
interest  in  the  product  of  education  with  the  fact  that  the  efficiency  of 
the  process  is  entirely  intangible  and  incapable  of  any  concrete  expression, 
and  the  further  fact  that  responsibility  is  divided,  we  have  a  combination 
zvhich  necessarily  ensures  a  small  percentage  of  efficiency — which  con- 
stitutes its  principal  necessary  limitation. 

I  have  endeavored  to  outline  what  the  engineering  graduate  should 
be ;  what  he  unfortunately  too  often  is ;  and  have  referred  to  some  of 
the  difficulties  which  are  met  in  endeavoring  to  reach  the  ideal.  Many 
of  my  remarks  apply,  of  course,  with  even  greater  force  to  the  college 
graduate  also.  The  remedies,  so  far  as  remedies  are  possible,  which  have 
occurred  to  the  writer  have  already  been  partially  suggested.  They 
may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

1. — Every  student  in  a  university  or  technical  school  should  be 
given  systematic  physical  training,  and  instruction  in  physiology. 

2. — Education  should  not  be  considered  to  i>e  merely  mental  educa- 
tion. Moral  development  should  be  kept  constantly  in  mind  and  every 
teacher  should  not  only  endeavor  to  make  himself  a  moral  example,  but, 
as  far  as  consistent,  to  inculcate  moral  lessons. 

3. — Educational  work  is  not  consistent  with  such  concentration  of 
responsibility  as  is  possible  in  business,  but  it  should  be  striven  after  so 
far  as  possible. 

4. — Every  effort  should  be  made  to  cause  the  student  to  see  the 
necessity  for  self-discipline  and  self-exertion,  to  realize  the  value  of  his 
opportunities,  the  importance  of  cultivating  proper  mental,  moral,  and 
physical  habits,  the  fact  that  his  success  will  depend  upon  himself  alone, 
the  necessity  of  studying  how  to  work  effectively  and  not  simply  earnest- 
ly. If  he  does  not  reasonably  appreciate  these  things  and  take  ad  van- 


SWAIN.  251 

tage  of  his  opportunities,  he  should  be  promptly  taken  out  of  college  and 
set  to  work  earning  his  own  living.  Both  parents  and  colleges  are  too 
lenient  toward  the  indolent  and  the  inefficient. 

5. — Courses  and  examinations  should  be  arranged,  so  far  as  possible, 
with  the  main  object  of  training  the  student  to  observe  and  to  think,  and 
also,  to  a  sufficient  extent,  to  manipulate.  It  should  be  made  impos- 
sible to  pass  in  a  course  by  rule-of-thumb  work,  mere  memorizing,  or 
cramming. 

6. — The  lecture  system  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  so  far  as 
practicable. 

7. — Students  should  be  taught  how  to  study,  how  to  work  effectively, 
and  how  to  think  logically.  The  systematic  study  of  logic,  in  some  form, 
might  well  be  required  in  any  engineering  course. 

8. — Teachers,  at  all  events  in  the  early  portions  of  their  careers, 
should  be  willing,  and  not  only  willing,  but  glad,  to  submit  to  some 
scrutiny  of  their  methods  and  results,  should  welcome  kindly  criticism, 
should  discuss  and  study  educational  methods,  and  should  be  willing  to 
modify  their  own  methods.  There  should  be  cordial  sympathy  and 
harmony  between  the  members  of  the  faculty,  and  a  spirit  of  earnest 
cooperation. 

9. — Every  student  should  be  obliged  to  follow  a  carefully  planned 
curriculum,  involving  continuous  and  systematic  mental  discipline.  This 
does  not  mean  that  every  student  should  follow  the  same  curriculum, 
but  that  each  man's  course  should  be  systematic  in  itself. 

10. — Students  in  colleges  and  technical  schools  should  not  idle  away 
their  summer  vacations,  but  should  devote  them  entirely  or  largely  to 
work  of  some  kind.  The  other  vacations  during  the  year  are  sufficient 
for  the  physical  needs  of  boys  of  18  or  over.  Summer  work  should  be 
either  at  shop  work  or  at  summer  engineering  camps,  or  in  actual  shops 
or  other  engineering 'establishments,  where  the  student  will  see  the  op- 
portunities  for  the  practical  applications  of  science,  and  will  also  learn 
that  ability  and  wisdom  are  not  confined  to  men  who  go  to  college, 
and  that  if  he  would  surpass  the  untutored  man  in  the  race  of  life  it  must 
be  by  getting  an  education. 

But  when  all  is  said  and  done,  the  necessary  limitations  to  efficiency 
in  education  will  remain,  these  being  largely  due  to  the  student  himself 
and  his  lack  of  will,  to  the  parent,  who  has  given  the  boy  no  home  dis- 
cipline in  the  days  of  childhood,  to  the  lack  of  financial  incentive,  and 
to  the  fact  that  efficiency  cannot  be  measured. 

Our  colleges,  no  doubt,  have  serious  defects — more  serious  on  ac- 
count of  the  extraordinary  rapidity  of  their  growth.  But  they  are  earn- 
estly engaged  in  the  attempt  to  solve  a  great  problem.  They  may  go 


252  ENGINEERING  EDUCATION. 

wrong,  they  undoubtedly  will  go  wrong  at  times,  but  they  will  dis- 
cover their  mistakes  and  correct  them  so  far  as  practicable.  They  need 
in  many  respects  to  be  reformed,  and  where  they  need  it  they  will  be 
reformed.  They  have,  on  the  whole,  done  much  good  work,  together 
with  considerable  poor  work,  but  they  will  do  better  and  better  work  as 
the  years  go  by. 


THE  RELATIONS  OF  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  TO  OTHER 
BRANCHES  OF  SCIENCE. 

By 
Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell. 

Early  in  1904  the  Organizing  Committee  of  the  International  Con- 
gress of  Arts  and  Science  which  was  founded  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  invited  Dr.  Waddell  and  Prof.  Lewis  M. 
Haupt  to  represent  the  profession  of  civil  engineering  and  address  the 
Congress  upon  'The  Relations  of  Civil  Engineering  to  Other  Branches 
of  Science"  and  "Present  Problems  of  Civil  Engineering."  Although 
the  first  of  these  addresses  is  of  a  rather  abstract  nature  to  claim  deep 
interest  from  engineering  students  in  general,  still  it  contains  much  that 
can  be  read  with  profit  by  undergraduates  of  the  higher  grade,  especial- 
ly when  they  are  truly  interested  in  engineering  as  a  learned  profes- 
sion. It  is,  therefore,  hoped  that  it  will  prove  to  be  both  interesting 
and  valuable  to  at  least  a  few  of  the  readers  of  this  compilation  of  ad- 
dresses. 

Editors. 


253 


THE  RELATIONS  OF  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  TO  OTHER 
BRANCHES  OF  SCIENCE. 

An  Address  to  the  International  Congress  of  Arts  and  Science  at 
the  Universal  Exposition,   St.   Louis,   Mo.,   September  21,   1904. 

By 
Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell. 

The  topic  set  for  this  address  is  "The  Relations  of  Civil  Engineering 
to  Other  Branches  of  Science."  In  its  broad  sense  civil  engineering  in- 
cludes all  branches  of  engineering  except,  perhaps,  the  military.  This 
is  its  scope  as  recognized  by  two  of  the  highest  authorities,  viz.,  the 
American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers  -and  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engi- 
neers of  Great  Britain ;  for  these  two  societies  of  Civil  Engineers  admit 
to  their  ranks  members  of  all  branches  of  engineering.  It  is  evident, 
though,  from  a  perusal  of  the  Programme  of  this  Congress  that  the 
Organizing  Committee  intended  to  use  the  term  in  a  restricted  sense, 
because  it  has  arranged  for  addresses  on  mechanical,  electrical,  and  min- 
ing engineering.  But  what  are  the  proper  restrictions  of  the  term  is,  up 
to  the  present  time,  a  matter  of  individual  opinion,  no  authority  having 
as  yet  attempted  definitely  to  divide  engineering  work  among  the  various 
branches  of  the  profession.  To  do  so  would,  indeed,  be  a  most  difficult 
undertaking;  for  not  only  do  all  large  constructions  involve  several 
branches  of  engineering,  but  also  the  profession  is  constantly  being  more 
minutely  divided  and  subdivided.  For  instance,  there  are  recognzied 
to-day  by  the  general  public,  if  not  formally  by  the  profession,  the 
specialties  of  architectural,  bridge,  chemical,  electrical,  harbor,  high- 
way, hydraulic,  landscape,  marine,  mechanical,  metallurgical,  mining, 
municipal,  railroad,  and  sanitary  engineering,  and  possibly  other  divi- 
sions ;  and  the  end  is  not  yet,  for  the  tendency  of  modern  times  in  all 
walks  of  life  is  to  specialize. 

Between  Tredgold's  broad  definition  of  civil  engineering,  which  in- 
cludes substantially  all  the  applied  sciences  that  relate  to  construction, 
and  the  absurdly  narrow  definition  which  certain  engineers  have  lately 
been  endeavoring  to  establish  during  the  course  of  a  somewhat  ani- 
mated discussion  and  which  would  confine  civil  engineering  to  dealing 
with  stationary  structures  only,  there  must  be  some  method  of  limitation 
that  will  recognize  the  modern  tendency  toward  specialization  without 
reducing  the  honored  profession  of  civil  engineering  to  a  mere  sub- 
division of  applied  mechanical  science. 

255 


256  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  OTHER  SCIENCES. 

Without  questioning  in  any  way  the  correctness  of  the  Tredgold 
definition,  civil  engineering  will  be  assumed,  for  the  purposes  of  this 
address,  to  include  the  design  and  construction  of  bridges ;  extensive  and 
difficult  foundations;  tunneling;  retaining  walls;  sea-walls  and  other 
heavy  masonry ;  viaducts ;  wharves ;  piers ;  docks ;  river  improvement ; 
harbors  and  waterways ;  water  supply ;  sewerage ;  filtration ;  treatment 
of  refuse ;  highway  construction ;  canals ;  irrigation  works ;  dams ;  geo- 
detic work;  surveying;  railways  (both  steam  and  electric)  ;  gas  works; 
manufacturing  plants;  the  general  design  and  construction  of  plants 
for  the  production  of  power  (steam,  electric,  hydraulic,  and  gaseous)  ; 
the  general  design  and  construction  of  cranes ;  cableways ;  breakers,  and 
other  mining  structures;  the  heavier  structural  features  of  office  build- 
ings and  other  large  buildings  that  carry  heavy  loads ;  the  general  prob- 
lems of  transportation,  quarrying,  and  the  handling  of  heavy  materials; 
and  all  designing  and  construction  of  a  similar  nature. 

In  contradistinction,  mechanical  engineering  should  include  the  de- 
sign and  construction  of  steam  engines,  machine  tools,  locomotives,  hoist- 
ing and  conveying  machinery,  cranes  of  the  usual  types,  rolling-mill  ma- 
chinery, blast-furnace  machinery,  and,  in  fact,  all  machinery  which  is 
designed  for  purely  manufacturing  purposes. 

Electrical  engineering  should  include  all  essentially  electrical  work, 
xsuch  as  the  designing,  construction, .and  operation  of  telephone  and  tele- 
graph lines ;  electric  light  plants  ;  dynamos  ;  motors ;  switchboards ;  wir- 
ing; electric  devices  of  all  kinds;  transmission  lines;  cables  (both  marine 
and  land)  ;  and  storage  batteries. 

Mining  engineering  should  include  all  under-ground  mining  work; 
means  for  handling  the  products  of  mines;  roasting,  smelting,  milling, 
stamping,  and  concentrating  of  ores;  drainage  and  ventilation  of  mines; 
disposal  of  mine  refuse;  and  similar  problems. 

It  is  impracticable  to  draw  hard  and  fast  lines  between  the  various 
branches  of  engineering,  because,  as  before  indicated,  nearly  all  large 
constructions  involve  several  specialties,  consequently  no  specialist  can 
confine  his  attention  to  a  single  line  of  work  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
lines.  For  instance,  the  bridge  engineer  encounters  mechanical  and  elec- 
trical engineering  problems  in  designing  movable  bridges;  railroading 
in  approaches  to  bridges;  river  improvement  in  the  protection  of  piers 
and  abutments ;  highway  construction  in  the  pavement  of  wagon  bridges ; 
architecture  in  the  machinery  houses  of  swing  spans ;  hydraulic  engineer-- 
ing in  guarding  bridges  against  fire;  and  chemistry  and  metallurgy  in 
testing  materials.  The  railroad  engineer  encounters  architecture  and 
structural  engineering  in  depots,  roundhouses,  and  other  buildings;  hy- 
draulic problems  in  pumping  plants  and  bank  protection ;  mechanical 


WADDELL.  257 

engineering  in  interlocking  plants;  and  electrical  engineering  in  repair- 
shop  machinery.  The  mining  engineer  invades  the  field  of  mechanical 
and  electrical  engineering  in  his  hoisting,  ventilating,  and  transporting 
machinery;  deals  with  civil  engineering  in  his  surveys;  and  encounters 
chemistry  and  metallurgy  in  testing  ores.  Similarly  it  might  be  shown 
that  all  branches  of  engineering  overlap  each  other  and  are  inter- 
dependent. 

It  was  the  general  opinion  among  scientists  not  many  years  ago  that 
engineering  was  neither  a  science  nor  a  profession,  but  merely  a  trade 
or  business ;  and  even  to-day  there  are  a  few  learned  men  who  hold  to 
this  notion — some  of  them,  mirabile  dictu,  being  engineers;  but  that 
such  a  view  is  entirely  erroneous  is  now  commonly  conceded.  He  is  an 
ill-informed  man  who  to-day  will  deny  that  civil  engineering  has  be- 
come one  of  the  learned  professions.  Its  advances  in  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century  have  been  truly  gigantic  and  unprecedented  in  the  annals  of 
professional  development.  It  certainly  can  justly  lay  claim  to  being  the 
veritable  profession  of  progress ;  for  the  larger  portion  of  the  immense 
material  advancement  of  the  world  during  the  last  century  is  due  pri- 
marily and  pre-eminently  to  its  engineers. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  half  a  century  ago  engineering  was  little 
better  than  a  trade,  but  by  degrees  it  advanced  into  an  art,  and  to-day, 
in  its  higher  branches  at  least,  it  is  certainly  a  science  and  one  of  the 
principal  sciences. 

The  sciences  may  be  divided  into  two  main  groups,  viz.,  "Pure 
Sciences"  and  "Applied  Sciences." 

The  "Pure  Sciences"  include: — 

1st.  Those  sciences  which  deal  with  numbers  and  the  three  di- 
mensions in  space,  the  line,  the  surface,  and  the  volume,  or  in  other 
words  "Mathematics." 

2d.  Those  sciences  which  deal  with  inorganic  matter,  its  origin, 
structure,  metamorphoses,  and  properties;  such  as  geology,  petrology, 
chemistry,  physics,  mineralogy,  geography,  and  astronomy. 

3d.  Those  sciences  which  deal  with  the  laws,  structure,  and  life  of 
organic  matter;  such  as  botany,  zoology,  entomology,  anatomy, 
physiology,  and  anthropology. 

4th.  The  social  sciences;  such  as  political  economy,  sociology, 
philosophy,  history,  psychology,  politics,  jurisprudence,  education,  and 
religion. 

"Applied  Sciences"  include: — 

1st.  Those  which  relate  to  the  growth  and  health  of  organic  matter ; 
such  as  medicine,  surgery,  dentistry,  hygiene,  agriculture,  floriculture, 
and  horticulture. 


258  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  OTHER  SCIENCES. 

2d.  Those  which  deal  with  the  transformation  of  forces  and  in- 
organic matter,  viz.,  the  various  lines  of  engineering, — civil,  mechanical, 
electrical,  mining,  marine,  chemical,  metallurgical,  architectural,  etc. 

3d.  Those  which  relate  to  economics ;  such  as  industrial  organiza- 
tions and  manufactures,  transportation,  commerce,  exchange,  and  insur- 
ance. 

Some  writers  make  no  distinction  between  the  terms  "Political 
Economy"  and  "Economics,"  but  in  this  address  they  are  divided,  the 
former  relating  to  broad  subjects  of  national  importance  and  the  latter 
to  minor  matters  and  to  some  of  the  details  of  larger  ones.  For  instance, 
currency,  the  national  debt,  banking,  customs,  taxation,  and  the  subsidiz- 
ing of  industries  pertain  to  "Political  Economy,"  while  economy  of  ma- 
terials in  designing  and  of  cost  of  labor  in  construction,  supplanting  of 
hand  power  by  machinery,  systemization  of  work  of  all  kinds,  adjustment 
of  grades  and  curvatures  of  railroads  to  traffic,  and  time  and  labor  saving 
devices  come  under  the  head  of  "Economics." 

The  distinctions  between  the  pure  and  the  applied  sciences  are  at 
times  extremely  difficult  to  draw,  for  one  science  often  merges  almost 
imperceptibly  into  one  or  more  of  the  others. 

The  groups  of  pure  sciences  that  have  been  enumerated  may  be 
termed 

The  Mathematical  Sciences, 
The  Physical  Sciences, 
The   Physiological   Sciences,  and 
The  Social  Sciences, 

while  the  groups  of  applied  sciences  may  be  called 
The  Organic  Sciences, 
The  Constructive  Sciences,  and 
The  Economic  Sciences. 

In  what  follows  the  preceding  nomenclature  will  be  adopted. 
The  terming  of  engineering  the  "Constructive  Science"  is  a  happy 
conception,  for  engineering  is  truly  and  almost  exclusively  the  science  of 
construction.      The   functions   of   the   engineer   in   all    cases   are   either 
directly  constructive  or  tend  toward  construction. 

The  engineer  has  ever  had  a  due  appreciation  of  all  the  sciences, 
imagination  to  see  practical  possibilities  for  the  results  of  their  findings, 
and  the  common-sense  power  of  applying  them  to  his  own  use. 

Pure  science  (barring  perhaps  political  economy)  is  not  concerned 
with  financial  matters,  and  its  devotees  often  look  down  with  lofty  dis- 
dain upon  everything  of  a  utilitarian  nature,  but  engineering  is  certainly 
the  science  most  directly  concerned  with  the  expenditure  of  money.  The 
engineer  is  the  practical  man  of  the  family  of  .scientists.  While  he  is 


WADDELL.  259 

sufficiently  well  informed  to  be  able  to  go  up  into  the  clouds  occasionally 
with  his  brethren,  he  is  always  judicious  and  comes  to  earth  again.  In 
all  his  thoughts,  words,  and  acts  he  is  primarily  utilitarian.  It  is  true 
that  he  bows  down  to  the  goddess  of  mathematics,  but  he  always  wor- 
ships from  afar.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  mathematics  is  the  mainstay 
of  engineering;  nevertheless  the  true  engineer  pursues  the  subject  only 
so  far  as  it  is  of  practical  value,  while  the  mathematician  seeks  new  laws 
and  further  development  of  the  science  in  the  abstract.  The  engineer 
does  not  trouble  himself  to  consider  space  of  four  dimensions,  because 
there  are  too  many  things  for  him  to  do  in  the  three-dimension  space  in 
which  he  lives.  Non-Euclidian  geometry  is  barred  from  his  mind  for 
a  fuller  understanding  of  the  geometry  which  is  of  use  to  ordinary  man- 
kind. The  mathematician  demonstrates  that  the  triangle  is  the  sole 
polygonal  figure  which  cannot  be  distorted,  while  the  engineer,  recog- 
nizing the  correctness  of  the  principle,  adopts  it  as  the  fundamental, 
elementary  form  for  his  trusses.  The  mathematician  endeavors  to 
stretch  his  imagination  so  as  to  grasp  the  infinite,  but  the  engineer  limits 
his  field  of  action  to  finite,  tangible  matters. 

The  geologist,  purely  studious,  points  out  what  he  has  deduced  about 
the  construction  of  the  earth ;  but  the  engineer  makes  the  mine  pay. 

The  chemist  discovers  certain  facts  about  the  effects  of  different 
elements  in  alloys ;  but  the  engineer  works  out  and  specifies  a  new  ma- 
terial for  his  structures.  Again,  the  chemist  learns  something  about  the 
action  of  clay  combined  with  carbonate  of  lime  when  water  is  added,  and 
from  this  discovery  the  engineer  determines  a  way  to  produce  hydraulic 
cement. 

The  physicist  evolves  the  theory  of  the  expansive  power  of  steam, 
and  the  engineer  uses  this  knowledge  in  the  development  of  the  steam 
engine.  Again,  the  physicist  determines  by  both  theory  and  experiment 
the  laws  governing  the  pressures  exerted  by  liquids,  and  the  engineer 
applies  these  laws  to  the  construction  of  dams  and  ships. 

The  botanist  with  his  microscope  studies  the  form  and  construction 
of  woods,  while  the  engineer  by  experimentation  devises  means  to  pre- 
serve his  timber. 

The  biologist  points  to  bare  facts  that  he  has  discovered,  but  the 
engineer  "grasps  them  and  utilizes  them  for  the  purification  of  water 
supplies. 

In  short,  the  aim  of  pure  science  is  discovery,  but  the  purpose  of 
engineering  is  usefulness. 

The  delvers  in  the  mysterious  laboratories,  the  mathematical  gym- 
nasts, the  scholars  poring .  over  musty  tomes  of  knowledge,  are  not 
understood  by  the  work-a-day  world,  nor  do  they  understand  it.  But 


260  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  OTHER  SCIENCES. 

between  stands  the  engineer  with  keen  and  sympathetic  appreciation  of 
the  value  of  the  work  of  the  one  and  a  ready  understanding  of  the 
needs  and  requirements  of  the  other;  and  by  his  power  of  adaptability 
he  grasps  the  problem  presented,  takes  from  the  investigators  their 
abstract  results,  and  transforms  them  into  practical  usefulness  for  the 
world. 

The  work  of  the  engineer  usually  does  not  permit  him  to  make  very 
extensive  researches  or  important  scientific  discoveries;  nor  is  it  often 
essential  today  for  him  to  do  so,  as  there  are  numerous  investigators  in 
all  lines  whose  object  is  to  deduce  abstract  scientific  facts;  nevertheless 
there  comes  a  time  occasionally  in  the  career  of  every  successful  .engi- 
neer when  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  make  investigations  more  or  less 
abstract,  although  ultimately  utilitarian ;  consequently  it  behooves  engi- 
neers to  keep  in  touch  with  the  methods  of  scientific  investigation,  in 
order  that  they  may  either  perform  desired  experiments  themselves,  or 
instruct  trained  investigators  how  to  perform  them. 

The  engineer  must  be  more  or  less  a  genius  who  invents  and  devises 
ways  and  means  of  applying  all  available  resources  to  the  uses  of  man- 
kind. His  motto  is  "utility,"  and  his  every  thought  and  act  must  be  to 
employ  to  the  best  advantage  the  materials  and  conditions  at  hand. 
To  be  able  to  accomplish  this  object  he  must  be  thoroughly  familiar  with 
all  useful  materials  and  their  physical  properties  as  determined  by  the 
investigations  of  the  pure  scientists. 

Many  well  known  principles  of  science  have  lain  unused  for  ages 
awaiting  the  practical  application  for  which  they  were  just  suited.  The 
power  of  steam  was  known  long  before  the  practical  mind  of  Watt 
utilized  it  in  the  steam  engine. 

The  engineer  is  probably  an  evolution  of  the  artisan  rather  than 
of  the  early  scientist.  His  work  is  becoming  more  scientific  because  of 
his  relations  and  associations  with  the  scientific  world.  These  relations 
of  the  engineer  to  the  sciences  are  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  and 
this  fact  accounts  for  the  rapid  development  in  the  engineering  and  in- 
dustrial world  of  the  past  half  century.  The  results  of  this  associa- 
tion have  been  advantageous  to  both  the  engineer  and  the  pure  scientist. 
The  demands  of  the  engineers  for  new  discoveries  have  acted  as  an 
incentive  for  greater  effort  on  the  part  of  the  investigators.  In  many 
instances  the  engineer  is  years  in  advance  of  the  pure  scientist  in  these 
demands ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are,  no  doubt,  many  valuable 
scientific  facts  now  available  which  will  yet  work  wonders  when  the 
engineer  perceives  their  practical  utility. 

The  engineer  develops  much  more  fully  the  faculty  of  discernment 
than  does  the  abstract  scientist,  he  is  less  visionary  and  more  practical, 
less  exacting  and  more  commercial. 


WADDELL.  261 

It  is  essential  to  progress  that  large  stores  of  scientific  knowledge 
in  the  abstract  be  accumulated  and  recorded  in  advance  by  the  pure 
scientists,  so  that  as  the  engineer  encounters  the  necessity  for  their  use 
he  can  employ  them  to  the  best  advantage.  The  engineer  must  be  famil- 
iar with  these  stores  of  useful  knowledge  in  order  to  know  what  is 
available.  This  forms  the  scientific  side  of  the  engineer's  work. 
While  he  must  know  what  has  been  done  by  investigators,  it  is  not 
absolutely  necessary  that  he  know  how  to  make  all  such  researches  for 
himself;  although,  as  before  stated,  there  are  times  in  an  engineer's 
practice  when  such  knowledge  will  not  come  amiss. 

As  engineers  are  specializing  more  and  more,  each  particular  spe- 
cialty becomes  more  closely  allied  with  the  sciences  that  most  affect  it; 
consequently,  to  ensure  the  very  best  and  most  enconomic  results  in 
his  work  the  engineer  must  keep  in  close  touch  with  all  of  the  scientific 
discoveries  in  his  line. 

The  early  engineers,  owing  to  lack  of  scientific  knowledge,  took 
much  greater  chances  in  their  constructions  than  is  necessary  for  up- 
to-date  modern  engineers.  There  is  now  no  occasion  for  an  engineer 
to  make  any  hazardous  experiments  in  his  structures,  because  by  careful 
study  of  scientific  records  he  can  render  his  results  certain. 

In  future  the  relations  between  engineers  and  the  pure  scientists 
will  be  even  closer  than  they  are  today,  for  as  the  problems  confronted 
by  the  engineer  become  more  complex  and  comprehensive  the  necessity 
for  accurate  knowledge  will  increase. 

The  technical  training  now  given  engineers  involves  a  great  deal 
of  the  purely  scientific;  and  it  is  evident  that  this  training  should  be  so 
complete  as  to  give  them  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  all  the  leading 
sciences  that  affiliate  with  engineering.  There  is  no  other  profession 
that  requires  such  a  thorough  knowledge  of  nature  and  her  laws. 

Of  all  the  various  divisions  and  sub-divisions  of  the  sciences  herein- 
before enumerated  and  of  those  tabulated  in  the  Organizing  Committee's 
"Programme,"  the  following  only  are  associated  at  all  closely  with  civil 
engineering : — 

Mathematics. 

Geology. 

Petrology. 

Chemistry. 

Physics. 

Mineralogy. 

Geography. 

Astronomy. 

Biology. 


262  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  OTHER  SCIENCES. 

Botany. 

Political  Economy. 

Jurisprudence. 

Education. 

Economics. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  this  list  contains  a  number  of 
divisions  from  the  four  main  groups  of  pure  sciences,  viz.,  the  mathe- 
matical, physical,  physiological,  and  social,  and  but  one  division  (eco- 
nomics) from  the  three  groups  of  applied  sciences,  viz.,  the  organic, 
constructive,  and  economic.  The  reasons  why  so  little  attention  is  to 
be  given  to  the  relation  between  civil  engineering  and  the  applied  sci- 
ences are,  first,  in  respect  to  organic  science,  there  is  scarcely  any 
relation  worth  mentioning  between  this  science  and  civil  engineering, 
and,  second,  because  the  inter-relations  between  civil  engineering  and 
other  divisions  of  constructive  science  have  already  been  treated  in 
this  address. 

Of  all  the  pure  sciences  there  is  none  so  intimately  connected  with 
civil  engineering  as  mathematics.  It  is  not,  as  most  laymen  suppose, 
the  whole  essence  of  engineering,  but  it  is  the  engineer's  principal 
tool.  Because  technical  students  are  drilled  so  thoroughly  in  mathemat- 
ics and  because  so  much  stress  is  laid  upon  the  study  of  calculus,  it  is 
commonly  thought  that  the  higher  mathematics  are  employed  con- 
stantly in  an  engineer's  practice ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  only 
branches  of  mathematics  that  a  constructing  engineer  employs  regularly 
are  arithmetic,  geometry,  algebra,  and  trigonometry.  In  some  lines  of 
work  logarithms  are  used  often,  and  occasionally  in  establishing  a 
formula  the  calculus  is  employed ;  but  the  engineer  in  active  practice 
soon  pretty  nearly  forgets  what  analytical  geometry  and  calculus  mean. 
As  for  applied  mechanics,  which,  as  the  term  is  generally  understood, 
is  a  branch  of  mathematics  (although  it  involves  also  physics  and  other 
sciences),  the  engineer  once  in  a  while  has  to  take  down  his  old  text- 
books to  look  up  some  principle  that  he  has  encountered  in  his  reading 
but  has  forgotten.  Strictly  speaking,  though,  engineers  in  their  daily 
tasks  utilize  applied  mechanics,  almost  without  recognition ;  for  stresses, 
moments,  energy,  moments  of  inertia,  impact,  momentum,  radii  of  gyra- 
tion, etc.,  are  all  conceptions  of  applied  mechanics;  and  these  are  terms 
that  the  engineer  employs  constantly. 

There  are  some  branches  of  the  higher  mathematics  of  which  as  yet 
engineers  have  made  no  practical  use,  and  prominent  among  these  is 
quarternions.  When  it  first  appeared  the  conciseness  of  its  reasoning 
and  its  numerous  short-cuts  to  results  gave  promise  of  practical  use- 
fulness to  engineers,  but  thus  far  the  promise  has  not  been  fulfilled. 


WADDELL.  263 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  higher  mathematics  are  of  so 
little  use  to  the  practicing  engineer,  this  is  no  reason  why  their  study 
should  be  omitted  from  or  even  slighted  in  the  technical  schools;  be- 
cause when  an  engineer  has  need  in  his  work  for  the  higher  mathe- 
matics he  needs  them  badly;  besides,  the  mental  training  that  their 
study  involves  is  almost  a  necessity  for  an  engineer's  professional 
success. 

Geology  (with  its  allied  branch,  or  more  strictly  speaking  subdi- 
vision, petrology)  and  civil  engineering  are  closely  allied.  Civil  en- 
gineers are  by  no  means  so  well  versed  in  this  important  science  as  they 
should  be.  This,  perhaps,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  instruction  given 
on  geology  in  technical  schools  is  mainly  from  books,  hence  most  gradu- 
ates find  difficulty  in  naming  properly  the  ordinary  stones  that  they 
encounter,  and  are  unable  to  prognosticate  with  reasonable  assurance 
concerning  what  a  proposed  cutting  contains. 

Geology  is  important  to  the  civil  engineer  in  tunneling,  railroading, 
foundations,  mining,  water-supply,  and  many  other  lines  of  work;  con- 
sequently, he  needs  to  receive  at  his  technical  school  a  thorough  course 
in  the  subject  given  both  by  text-books  and  by  field  instruction. 

A  knowledge  of  petrology  will  enable  the  engineer  to  determine 
readily  whether  building  stone  contains  iron  which  will  injure  its  appear- 
ance on  exposure,  or  feldspar  which  will  disintegrate  rapidly  under  the 
action  of  the  weather  or  of  acids  from  manufacturing  establishments. 

Next  to  mathematics,  physics  is  undoubtedly  the  science  most  essen- 
tial to  civil  engineering.  The  physicist  discovers  and  formulates  the 
laws  of  nature,  the  engineer  employs  them  in  "directing  the  sources  of 
power  in  nature  for  the  use  and  convenience  of  man."  The  forces  of 
gravitation,  adhesion,  and  cohesion;  the  pressure,  compressibility,  and 
expansibility  of  fluids  and  gases;  the  laws  of  motion,  curvilinear,  rec- 
tilinear, accelerated,  and  retarded;  momentum;  work;  energy;  the 
transformation  of  energy ;  thermodynamics ;  electricity ;  the  laws  of  wave 
motion ;  the  reflection,  refraction,  and  transmission  of  light ;  and  the 
mass  of  other  data  furnished  by  the  physicist  form  a  large  portion  of 
the  first  principles  of  civil  engineering. 

The  function  of  applied  mechanics  is  to  establish  the  fundamental 
laws  of  physics  in  terms  suitable  for  service,  and  to  demonstrate  their 
applicability  to  engineering  construction. 

Chemistry  is  a  science  that  enters  into  closer  relations  with  civil 
engineering  than  does  any  other  science  except  mathematics  and  physics, 
and  as  the  manufacture  of  the  materials  of  engineering  approaches  per- 
fection the  importance  of  chemistry  to  engineers  increases.  Within  a 
comparatively  short  period  the  chemist  has  made  it  possible  by  analyz- 


264  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  OTHER  SCIENCES. 

ing  and  selecting  the  constituents  to  control  the  quality  of  cast  iron, 
cast  steel,  rolled  steel,  bronze,  brass,  nickel  steel,  and  other  alloys.  The 
engineer  requires  certain  physical  characteristics  in  his  materials,  and 
obtains  them  by  limiting  the  chemical  constituents  in  accord  with  data 
previously  furnished  by  the  chemist.  The  proper  manufacture  of 
cement  requires  the  combined  skill  and  knowledge  of  the  chemist  and 
the  mechanical  engineer. 

In  water  supply  the  chemist  is  called  in  to  determine  the  character 
and  amounts  of  the  impurities  in  the  water  furnished  or  contemplated 
for  use.  The  recent  discovery  that  the  introduction  of  about  one  part 
of  sulphate  of  copper  in  a  million  parts  of  water  will  effectively  dis- 
pose of  the  algse,  which  have  long  given  trouble,  is  a  notable  instance 
of  the  increasing  interdependence  of  these  two  branches  of  science, 
as  is  also  the  fact  that  the  addition  to  water  of  a  small  amount  of 
alum  will  precipitate  the  earthy  matter  held  in  suspension  without  leav- 
ing in  it  any  appreciable  trace  of  the  reagent. 

In  the  purification  of  water  and  sewage,  in  the  selection  of  ma- 
terials which  will  resist  the  action  of  acids  and  the  elements,  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  alloys  to  meet  various  requirements,  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  chemistry  is  essential. 

A  knowledge  of  mineralogy  is  requisite  for  a  clear  understanding 
of  the  nature  of  many  materials  of  construction,  but  is  otherwise  of  only 
general  interest  to  civil  engineers.  ;  . 

Geography  in  its  broad  sense  is  related  to  civil  engineering  in  some 
of  its  lines,  for  instance,  geodesy  and  surveying,  but  generally  speaking 
there  is  not  much  connection  between  these  two  branches  of  science. 

Astronomy  is  perhaps  more  nearly  related  to  civil  engineering 
than  is  geography,  although  it  is  so  related  in  exactly  the  same  lines, 
for  the  railroad  engineer  on  a  long  survey  must  occasionally  check  the 
correctness  of  his  alignment  by  observations  of  Polaris,  and  the  coast 
surveyor  locates  points  by  observations  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 

Biology  is  allied  to  civil  engineering  mainly  through  bacteriology 
as  applied  to  potable  water,  the  treatment  of  sewage  to  prevent  contam- 
ination of  streams,  and  the  sanitation  of  the  camps  of  surveying  and 
construction  parties.  The  treatment  of  sewage  has  been  given  much 
more  thorough  study  abroad  than  in  this  country,  but  the  importance 
of  its  bearing  upon  life  in  the  large  cities  of  America  is  becoming  better 
understood;  consequently  the  progressive  sanitary  engineer  should 
possess  a  thorough  knowledge  of  bacteriology.  In  important  cases, 
such  as  an  epidemic  of  typhoid  fever,  the  specialist  in  bacteriology 
would  undoubtedly  be  called  in ;  but  a  large  portion  of  the  work  of  pre- 


WADDELL.  265 

venting  or  eradicating  bacterial  diseases  will  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  sani- 
tary engineer. 

Botany  comes  in  touch  with  civil  engineering  mainly,  if  not  solely, 
in  the  study  of  the  various  woods  used  in  construction,  although  it  is 
a  fact  that  a  very  intimate  knowledge  of  this  pure  science  might  enable 
a  railroad  engineer  or  surveyor  to  determine  approximately  the  charac- 
ters of  the  soils  from  the  plants  and  trees  growing  upon  them.  A 
knowledge  of  botany  is  of  no  great  value  to  trie  civil  engineer,  and  much 
time  is  often  wasted  on  its  study  in  technical  schools. 

Political  economy  is  a  science  that  at  first  thought  one  would  be 
likely  to  say  is  not  at  all  allied  to  civil  engineering;  but  if  he  did  so, 
he  would  be  mistaken,  because  political  economy  certainly  includes  the 
science  of  business  and  finance,  and  civil  engineering  is  most  assuredly 
a  business  as  well  as  a  profession;  besides  the  leading  engineers  usually 
are  either  financiers  themselves  or  advisers  to  financiers.  Great  enter- 
prises are  often  evolved,  studied,  financed,  and  executed  by  engineers. 
How  important  it  is  then  that  they  understand  the  principles  of  political 
economy,  especially  in  their  relations  to  engineering  enterprises!  It  is 
only  of  late  years  that  technical  students  have  received  much  instruction 
in  this  branch  of  social  science,  and  the  ordinary  technical  school  cur- 
riculum today  certainly  leaves  much  to  be  desired  in  respect  to  instruc- 
tion in  political  economy. 

Jurisprudence  and  civil  engineering  are  closely  allied,  in  that  en- 
gineers of  all  lines  must  understand  the  laws  of  business  and  the  re- 
strictions that  are  likely  to  be  placed  upon  their  constructions  by 
municipal,  county,  state,  and  federal  laws.  While  most  engineering 
schools  carry  in  their  list  of  studies  the  "Laws  of  Business,"  very  few 
of  them  devote  anything  like  sufficient  attention  to  this  important  branch 
of  science. 

Are  the  sciences  of  civil  engineering  and  education  in  any  way 
allied?  Aye,  that  they  are!  and  far  more  than  most  people  think,  for 
there  is  no  other  profession  that  requires  as  much  education  as  does 
civil  engineering.  Not  only  must  the  would-be  engineer  study  the 
various  pure  and  applied  sciences  and  learn  a  great  mass  of  technical 
facts ;  but  he  must  also  have  in  advance  of  all  this  instruction  a  broad, 
general  education— the  broader  the  better,  provided  that  no  time  be 
wasted  on  useless  studies,  such  as  the  dead  languages. 

The  science  of  education  is  so  important  a  subject  for  civil  engineers 
that  all  members  of  the  profession  in  North  America,  more  especially 
those  of  high  rank,  ought  to  take  the  deepest  interest  in  the  develop- 
ment of  engineering  education,  primarily  by  joining  the  special  society 
organized  for  its  promotion,  and  afterward  by  devoting  some  of  their 


266  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  OTHER  SCIENCES. 

working  time  to  aid  this  society  in  accomplishing  its  most  praiseworthy 

objects. 

The  science  of  economics  and  that  of  civil  engineering  are,  or  ought 
to  be,  in  the  closest  possible  touch ;  for  true  economy  in  design  and  con- 
struction is  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  modern  engineering. 
Every  high-class  engineer  must  be  a  true  economist  in  all  the  professional 
work  that  he  does,  for  unless  one  be  such,  it  is  impossible  today  for  him 
to  rise  above  mediocrity. 

True  economy  in  engineering  consists  in  always  designing  and  build- 
ing 'structures,  machines,  and  other  constructions  so  that,  while  they 
will  perform  satisfactorily  in  every  way  all  the  functions  for  which  they 
are  required,  the  sum  of  their  first  cost  and  the  equivalent  capi- 
talized cost  for  their  maintenance,  operation,  and  repairs  shall 
be  a  minimum.  The  ordinary  notion  that  the  structure  or  machine  which 
is  least  in  first  cost  must  be  the  most  economical  is  a  fallacy.  In  fact, 
in  many  cases,  just  the  opposite  is  true,  the  structure  or  machine  involv- 
ing the  largest  first  cost  being  often  the  cheapest. 

Economics  as  a  science  should  be  taught  thoroughly  to  the  student 
in  the  technical  school,  then  economy  in  all  his  early  work  should  be 
drilled  into  him  by  his  superiors  during  his  novitiate  in  the  profession, 
so  that  when  he  reaches  the  stage  where  he  designs  and  builds  inde- 
pendently, his  constructions  will  invariably  be  models  of  true  economy. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  relations  between  civil  engineering  and 
many  of  the  pure  sciences  are  very  intimate,  that  the  various  branches 
of  engineering,  although  becoming  constantly  more  and  more  specialized, 
are  so  interdependent  and  so  closely  connected  that  they  cannot  be  sepa- 
rated in  important  constructions,  that  the  more  data  the  pure  scientists 
furnish  the  engineers  the  better  it  is  for  both  parties,  and  that  a  broad, 
general  knowledge  of  many  of  the  sciences,  both  pure  and  applied,  is 
essential  to  great  success  in  the  engineering  profession. 

Such  being  the  case,  the  question  arises  as  to  what  can  be  done  to 
foster  a  still  closer  affiliation  between  engineering  and  the  other  sciences, 
and  how  engineers  of  all  branches  and  the  pure  scientists  can-  best  be 
brought  into  more  intimate  relations,  in  order  to  advance  the  develop- 
ment of  the  pure  sciences,  and  thus  benefit  the  entire  world  by  increas- 
ing the  knowledge  and  efficiency  of  its  engineers. 

One  of  the  most  effective  means  is  to  encourage  the  creation  of  such 
congresses  as  the  one  that  is  now  being  held,  and  so  to  organize  them 
and  arrange  their  various  meetings  as  to  secure  the  greatest  possible 
beneficial  results. 

Another  is  for  such  societies  as  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  and  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engi- 


WADDELL.  267 

neering  Education  to  take  into  their  membership  engineers  of  good 
standing,  and  induce  them  to  share  the  labors  and  responsibilities  of  the 
other  members. 

Conversely,  the  various  technical  societies  should  associate  with 
them  by  admission  to  some  dignified  grade  (other,  perhaps,  than  that 
of  full  member)  pure  scientists  of  high  rank  and  specialists  in  other 
branches  of  constructive  science,  and  should  do  their  best  to  interest 
such  gentlemen  in  the  societies'  objects  and  development. 

A  self-evident  and  most  effective  method  of  accomplishing  the  de- 
sired result  is  to  improve  the  courses  of  study-  in  the  technical  schools 
in  every  possible  way ;  for  instance,  by  bringing  prominent  scientists  and 
engineers  to  lecture  to  the  students  and  to  tell  them  just  how  scientific 
and  professional  work  -of  importance  is  being  done  throughout  the 
world,  by  stimulating  their  ambition  to  rise  in  their  chosen  profession, 
by  teaching  them  to  love  their  work  instead  of  looking  upon  it  as  a 
necessary  evil,  and  by  offering  prizes  and  distinctions  for  the  evi- 
dence of  superior  and  effective  mental  effort  on  the  part  of  both  students 
and  practicing  engineers. 

There  has  lately  been  advanced  an  idea  which,  if  followed  out, 
would  aid  the  development  of  engineering  more  effectually  than  any 
other  possible  method,  and  incidentally  it  would  bring  into  close  contact 
scientists  in  all  branches  related  directly  or  indirectly  to  engineering. 
It  is  the  establishment  of  a  great  post-graduate  school  of  engineering 
in  which  should  be  taught  in  every  branch  of  the  profession  the  most 
advanced  subjects  of  all  existing  knowledge  that  is  of  real,  practical 
value,  the  instructors  being  chosen  mainly  from  the  leading  engineers 
in  each  specialty,  regardless  of  the  cost  of  their  services.  Such  spe- 
cialists would,  of  course,  be  expected  to  give  to  this  teaching  only  a 
few  weeks  per  annum,  and  a  corps  of  regular  professors  and  instructors, 
who  would  devote  their  entire  time  and  energies  to  the  interests  of  the 
school  would  be  required.  These  professors  and  instructors  should  be 
the  best  that  the  country  possesses,  and  the  inducements  of  salary  and 
facilities  for  investigation  that  are  provided  should  be  such  that  no 
technical  instructor  could  afford  to  refuse  an  offer  of  a  professorship 
in  this  school. 

Every  modern  apparatus  needed  for  either  instruction  or  original 
investigation  should  be  furnished;  and  arrangements  should  be  made 
for  providing  means  to  carry  out  all  important  technical  investigations. 

It  should  be  the  duty  of  the  regular  faculty  to  make  a  special  study 
of  engineering  literature  for  the  benefit  of  the  profession;  to  prepare 
annual  indices  thereof;  to  p'lt  into  book  form  the  gist  of  all  technical 
writings  in  the  transactions  of  the  various  engineering  societies  and  in 


268  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  OTHER  SCIENCES. 

the  technical  press  that  are  worthy  of  being  preserved  and  recorded  in 
this  way,  so  that  students  and  engineers  shall  be  able  to  search  in  books 
for  all  the  data  they  need  instead  of  in  the  back  files  of  periodicals;  to 
translate  or  assist  in  the  translation  of  all  engineering  books  in  foreign 
languages,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  competent  experts,  would  prove 
useful  to  engineers  or  to  the  students  of  the  school;  and  to  edit  and 
publish  a  periodical  for  the  recording  of  the  results  of  all  investiga- 
tions of  value  made  under  the  auspices  of  the  institution. 

In  respect  to  what  might  be  accomplished  by  such  a  post-graduate 
school  of  engineering,  the  following  quotation  is  made  from  the  pamph- 
let containing  the  address  in  which  the  project  was  advanced:-* 

"The  advantages  to  be  gained  by  "attendance  at  such  a  post-graduate 
school  as  the  one  advocated  are  almost  beyond  expression.  A  degree 
from  such  a  school  would  always  ensure  rapid  success  for  its  recipient. 
Possibly  for  two  or  three  years  after  taking  it  a  young  engineer  would 
have  less  earning  capacity  than  his  classmates  of  equal  ability  from  the 
lower  technical  school,  who  had  gone  directly  into  actual  practice.  How- 
ever, in  five  years  he  certainly  would  have  surpassed  them,  and  in  less 
than  ten  years  he  would  be  a  recognized  authority,  while  the  majority  of 
the  others  would  be  forming  the  rank  and  file  of  the  profession,  with 
none  of  them  approaching  at  all  closely  in  reputation  the  more  highly 
educated  engineer. 

"But  if  the  advantages  of  the  proposed  school  to  the  individual  are 
so  great,  how  much  greater  would  be  its  advantages  to  the  engineering 
profession  and  to  the  entire  nation!  After  a  few  years  of  its  existence 
there  would  be 'scattered  throughout  the  country  a  number  of  engineers 
more  highly  trained  in  the  arts  and  sciences  than  any  technical  men  who 
have  ever  lived;  and  it  certainly  would  not  take  long  to  make  apparent 
the  impress  of  their  individuality  and  knowledge  upon  the  development 
of  civil  engineering  in  all  its  branches,  with  a  resulting  betterment  to 
all  kinds  of  constructions  and  the  evolution  of  many  new  and  important 
types.  |  ;i.  [jj  ,Xj 

"When  one  considers  that  the  true  progress  01  me  enure  civilized 
world  is  due  almost  entirely  to  the  work  of  its  engineers,  the  impor- 
tance of  providing  the  engineering  profession  with  the  highest  possible 
education  in  both  theoretical  and  practical  lines  cannot  be  exaggerated. 

"What  greater  or  more  worthy  use  for  his  accumulated  wealth  could 
an  American  multi-millionaire  conceive  than  the  endowment  and  estab- 
lishment of  a  post-graduate  school  of  civil  engineering." 


*Higher  Education  for  Civil  Engineers.  An  Address  to  the  Engineering 
Society  of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  April  8.  1904,  by  J.  A.  L.  Waddell, 
D.  Sc.,  LL.  D. 


WADDELL.  269 

Another  extremely  practical  and  effective  means  for  affiliating  civil 
engineering  and  the  other  sciences  is  for  engineers  and  professors  of 
both  pure  science  and  technics  to  establish  the  custom  of  associating 
themselves  for  the  purpose  of  solving  problems  that  occur  in  the  en- 
gineers' practice.  Funds  should  be  made  available  by  millionaires  and 
the  richer  institutions  of  learning  for  the  prosecution  of  such  investi- 
gations. 

Another  possible  (but  in  the  past  not  always  a  successful)  method, 
is  the  appointment  by  technical  societies  of  special  committees  to  inves- 
tigate important  questions.  The  main  trouble  experienced  by  such  com- 
mittees has  been  the  lack  of  funds  for  carrying  out  the  necessary 
investigations,  and  the  fact  that  in  nearly  every  case  the  members  of 
the  committees  were  unpaid  except  by  the  possible  honor  and  glory 
resulting  from,  a  satisfactory  conclusion  of  their  work. 

Finally,  an  ideal  but  still  practicable  means  is  the  evolution  of  a 
high  standard  of  professional  ethics,  applicable  to  all  branches  of  en- 
gineering, and  governing  the  relations  of  engineers  to  each  other,  to 
their  fellow  workers  in  the  allied  sciences,  and  to  mankind  in  general. 

As  an  example  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  an  alliance  of  en- 
gineering and  the  pure  sciences,  the  construction  of  the  proposed 
Panama  Canal  might  be  mentioned.  Some  years  ago  the  French  at- 
tempted to  build  this  waterway  and  failed,  largely  on  account  of  the 
deadly  fevers  which  attacked  the  workmen.  It  is  said  that  at  times 
the  annual  death  rate  on  the  work  ran  as  high  as  six  hundred  per 
thousand.  Since  the  efforts  of  the  French  on  the  project  practically 
ceased,  the  sciences  of  medicine  and  biology  have  discovered  how  to 
combat  with  good  chances  for  success  the  fatal  malarial  and  yellow 
fevers,  as  was  instanced  by  the  success  of  the  Americans  in  dealing  with 
these  scourges  in  the  City  of  Havana  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Span- 
ish-American war. 

The  success  of  the  American  engineers  in  consummating  the  great 
enterprise  of  excavating  a  navigable  channel  between  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  Oceans  (and  concerning  their  ultimate  success  there  is  almost 
no  reasonable  doubt)  will  depend  largely  upon  the  assistance  they  re- 
ceive from  medical  science  and  its  allied  sciences,  such  as  hygiene,  bac- 
teriology, and  chemistry. 

Geological  science  will  also  play  an  important  part  in  the  design  and 
building  of  many  portions  of  this  great  work,  for  a  comprehensive  and 
correct  knowledge  of  the  geology  of  the  Isthmus  will  prevent  the 
making  of  many  costly  mistakes,  similar  to  those  that  resulted  from  the 
last  attempt  to  connect  the  two  oceans. 


270  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  OTHER  SCIENCES. 

Again,  the  handling  of  this  vast  enterprise  will  involve  from  start 
to  finish  and  to  an  eminent  degree  the  science  of  economics.  That 
this  science  will  be  utilized  to  the  utmost  throughout  the  entire  work  is 
assured  by  the  character  and  professional  reputation  of  both  the  Chief 
Engineer  and  the  members  of  the  Commission. 

Notwithstanding,  though,  the  great  precautions  and  high  hopes  for 
a  speedy  and  fortunate  conclusion  of  the  enterprise  with  which  all  con- 
cerned are  starting  out,  many  unanticipated  difficulties  are  very  certain 
to  be  encountered,  and  many  valuable  lives  are  likely  to  be  expended 
on  the  Isthmus  before  the  first  steamer  passes  through  the  completed 
canal.  Engineering  work  in  tropical  countries  always  costs  much  more 
and  takes  much  longer  to  accomplish  than  is  first  anticipated;  and 
disease,  in  spite  of  all  precautions,  is  very  certain  to  demand  and  re- 
ceive its  toll  from  those  who  rashly  and  fearlessly  face  it  on  construc- 
tion works  in  the  tierra  calicntc.  But  with  American  engineers  in 
charge,  and  with  the  finances  of  the  American  Government  behind  the 
project,  success  is  practically  assured  in  advance. 

What  the  future  of  civil  engineering  is  to  be,  who  can  say?  If  it 
continues  to  advance  as  of  late,  by  almost  geometrical  progression,  the 
mind  of  man  can  hardly  conceive  what  it  will  become  in  fifty  years 
more !  Every  valuable  scientific  discovery  is  certainly  going  to  be 
grasped  quickly  by  the  engineers  and  put  to  practical  use  by  them  for 
the  benefit  of  mankind,  and  it  is  only  by  their  close  association  with  the 
pure  scientists  that  the  greatest  possible  development  of  the  world  can 
be  attained.  '  -  i  * 


COLLEGE  TRAINING  OF  ELECTRICAL  ENGINEERS. 

By 
Professor  Arthur  C.  Scott. 

This  paper,  which  was  published  in  the  Electrical  World  of  April 
18,  1908,  is  partially  reproduced  here,  primarily,  because  of  its  real 
value  and,  secondarily,  to  give  herein  some  representation  to  electrical 
engineering. 

The  Editors  endorse  heartily  Professor  Scott's  plea  for  longer  time 
in  which  to  give  electrical  engineering  courses ;  and  they  consider  that 
the  said  plea  applies  equally  well  to  the  curricula  of  all  other  branches  of 
engineering  instruction. 

Editors. 


271 


COLLEGE  TRAINING  OF  ELECTRICAL  ENGINEERS. 

By 
Professor  Arthur  C.  Scott. 

Lord  Kelvin  said  that  the  first  object  of  an  education  is  "to  enable 
a  man  to  live,"  and  the  second,  "to  assist  other  men  to  live."  The 
truthfulness  of  this  statement  is  nowhere  more  apparent  than  when 
considered  with  respect  to  the  engineer  of  the  present  time;  to  him  is 
due,  more  than  to  any  other,  the  great  improvements  in  communication, 
transportation,  illumination,  and  sanitation,  which  so  manifestly  assist 
other  men  to  live.  Moreover,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  phenomenal 
advance  made  in  electrical  engineering  within  the  past  few  years  has 
brought  comforts  and  luxuries  to  the  public  at  large  never  before  con- 
sidered possible. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  "the  recent  rapid  development  of  the 
electrical  industry  owes  its  vitality  to  the  engineering  school.  Its  gradu- 
ates have  done  the  designing,  constructing,  operating,  and  directing 
which  have  made  possible  the  rapid  progress  and  wise  extension  in 
the  use  of  electricity."  ,  '  . 

Granting  that  this  is  true,  the  questions  of  vital  interest  and  im- 
portance at  present  are: 

Does  the  average  university  or  college  technical  school  properly 
prepare  its  students  for  their  life  work  as  engineers? 

Does  the  sequence  of  courses  taught,  and  do  the  methods  of  teach- 
ing afford  the  maximum  opportunity  for  the  student,  when  viewed  from 
a  common  meeting  point  of  the  psychological  and  pedogogical  standards 
'within  the  college,  and  the  practical  or  operating  standards  outside  it? 

Such  questions  as  these,  or  something  akin  to  them,  have  of  late 
been  the  source  of  voluminous,  and  no  doubt  profitable  discussion,  al- 
though a  digest  of  papers  recently  published  in  the  American  Institute 
transactions,  the  Electrical  World  and  the  proceedings  of  the  Society  for 
the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education,  appears  to  show  that  no  com- 
mon ground  of  agreement  has  yet  been  reached. 

A  few  years  ago  the  manufacturers  and  heads  of  corporations 
gave  the  college  graduate  but  little  encouragement  because  they  did 
not  appreciate  the  value  of  concentrated  theory;  the  probable  reason 
why  today  they  are  saying,  "Give  us  technically  educated  men,"  and 
are  filling  vacancies  in  their  factories  and  systems  with  college  men,  is 

273 


274  COLLEGE  TRAINING  OF  ELECTRICAL  ENGINEERS. 

on  the  one  hand  that  the  college  is  constantly  endeavoring  to  improve 
methods  of  instruction,  including  such  practical  testing  and  laboratory 
work  as  will  be  more  in  line  with  their  requirements,  and  on  the  other, 
the  manufacturer  or  corporation  manager  is  becoming  educated  to  rec- 
ognize the  importance  of  sound  theoretical  training. 

The  most  potent  criticisms  by  large  manufacturers  and  property 
managers  of  their  college  graduate  employees,  at  the  present  time,  ap- 
pears to  be  that  they  lack  a  certain  kind  of  human  common  sense,  and 
that  they  do  not  know  how  to  adapt  themselves  to  new  conditions,  or  to 
adjust  their  personalities  to  the  wishes  of  their  superiors ;  that  they 
lack  most  decidedly  the  ability  to  direct  men  and  are  loath  to  assume 
responsibility  which  requires  originality  or  initiative  on  their  part. 

To  meet  such  deficiencies  several  of  the  large  concerns  have  estab- 
lished special  apprenticeship  courses,  and  it  has  recently  been  shown 
that  with  one  large  company,  of  those  who  finished  the  apprenticeship 
course,  50  per  cent  are  now  with  the  company,  and  the  others  are 
with  operating  or  electrical  supply  companies,  or  acting  as  consulting 
engineers  or  instructors. 

The  apprenticeship  course  attests  the  validity  of  the  criticism,  but 
there  are  grades  of  adverse  criticism,  and  it  appears  that  the  sort 
presented  is  the  best,  for  the  following  reason :  A  student  passes  from 
three  or  four*  years  of  cramming,  memorizing  effort  in  the  high  school 
to  the  college.  During  the  first  two  years  of  his  college  course  he  is 
likely  to  go  on  memorizing  as  in  the  high  school,  and  does  not  really 
learn  how  to  study  or  concentrate  his  mind  on  the  work  before  him 
until  some  time  during  the  junior  year,  or  possibly  the  senior  year. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  appears  that  there  is  not  sufficient  time  for  him 
to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  principles  underlying  a  broad 
education  in  engineering,  and  at  the  same  time  carry  on  work  involving 
much  originality,  or  the  direction  of  men.  Therefore,  the  criticism  of 
the  manufacturers  in  general  of  college  graduates  is  what  one  familiar 
with  professional  college  work  might  expect.  There  appears  to  be  no 
doubt,  however,  in  the  minds  of  all  that  fundamental  principles  of 
mathematics,  mechanics,  physics,  chemistry,  English,  foreign  languages, 
and  political  science  are  a  necessary  part  of  the  engineering  graduate's 
proper  training,  as  well  as  the  more  specialized  subjects  of  engineering. 

One  writer  representing  a  large  manufacturing  company  says : 
"Engineering  students  usually  hate  rhetoricals  and  language  courses. 
They  should  remember  that  engineers  are  sometimes  called  upon  to 
fill  positions  which  are  worth  more  than  $75  per  month,  and  that  in  such 
positions  they  will  need  to  know  how  to  speak  and  write  the  English 
language." 


SCOTT.  275 

In  attempting  then  to  answer  the  question  as  to  whether  the  aver- 
age university  or  college  technical  school  properly  prepares  its  stu- 
dents for  their  life  work  as  engineers,  a  noteworthy  distinction  should 
be  made  between  the  technical  courses  of  the  colleges  and  the  technical 
courses  of  the  trades  schools.  While  the  latter  may  take  the  student 
as  far  in  the  strictly  technical  subjects  of  engineering  as  do  the  college 
courses,  these  schools  do  not  assume  to  spend  any  time  upon  the  so- 
called  culture  studies  that  are  required  in  college  courses  in  engineering. 
If  the  culture  studies  were  removed  from  the  college  courses,  there 
would  be  more  time  available  for  the  student  to  develop  originality 
in  his  work  and  possibly  to  obtain  some  instruction  concerning  the 
direction  of  men,  and  commercial  accounting. 

Under  these  conditions,  however,  he  is  likely  to  become  narrow- 
minded  concerning  his  work ;  he  gains  nothing  socially  which  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  culture  studies  may  accord  him ;  he  is  limited  to  a  direct 
line  of  work  because  he  has  insufficient  training  to  give  him  the  con- 
fidence in  himself  to  start  in  any  other.  His  earning  capacity  "in  the 
long  run"  is  decreased  proportionally,  as  has  been  well  shown  by  sta- 
tistics collected  some  time  ago  by  James  M.  Dodge. 

It  appears  that  it  is  unwise  for  the  university  technical  school 
to  attempt  to  go  much  farther  toward  the  manufacturers  in  attempting 
to  turn  out  students  who  shall  just  suit  them  at  the  start.  In  the 
first  place  it  is  impossible  to  graduate  men  who  would  suit  the  re- 
quirements of  all  the  manufacturers  or  employers.  Methods  are  differ- 
ent in  different  places,  and  require  time  and  attention  spent  on  them 
by  anyone,  whether  student  or  not,  before  he  is  in  a  position  to  show 
much  originality  or  power  of  direction. 

It  stands  to  reason  that  the  general  aim  of  the  courses  of  the 
average  technical  college  at  the  present  time  is  commendable;  namely, 
the  thorough  training  of  the  student  in  all  subjects  fundamental  to 
engineering,  with  the  introduction  of  such  culture  subjects  as  will  serve 
to  place  the  student  on  an  even  footing,  intellectually  and  socially,  with 
men  in  other  professions,  and  in  so  far  as  this  result  is  accomplished 
.the  college  directs  its  students  in  the  proper  way.  In  other  words,  the 
graduates  have  the  rudiments  of  their  profession,  and  the  essentials 
of  cultured  citizens:  personal  characteristics,  environment,  and  time  are 
depended  upon  for  final  results. 

The  time  is  at  hand,  however,  when  the  engineer  should  be  so  edu- 
cated as  to  appreciate  the  artistic  possibilities  in  his  product,  and  to 
exhibit  esthetic  sense  in  design.  When  the  great  engineering  feats 
of  today  become  the  ordinary  products  of  tomorrow,  the  public  will 
demand  beauty  of  design,  as  well  as  rigidity  and  utility  of  construe- 


276  COLLEGE  TRAINING  OF  ELECTRICAL  ENGINEERS. 

tion  and  installation.  And  when  the  demand  is  made  the  men  who 
have  finished  an  A.  B.  course  in  the  university,  followed  by  a  full  en- 
gineering course,  will  occupy  first  positions  because  of  the  important 
cultural  training  which  they  possess. 

I  am  thoroughly  of  the  opinion,  therefore,  that  the  average  tech- 
nical college  does  not  properly  prepare  students  for  their  future  work 
as  electrical  engineers.  The  chief  reason  is  that  an  attempt  is  made 
to  complete  subjects  in  a  four-year  course,  which,  if  properly  taught, 
would  require  fully  six  years.  It  is  no  wonder  the  student  does  'not 
develop  the  spirit  of  original  research — he  has  no  time  to  do  anything 
but  attend  lectures  in  the  morning  and  laboratory  practice  in  the  after- 
noon for  six  days  per  week,  and  even  at  that  pace  does  not  properly 
cover  the  ground.  The  electrical  engineer  must  be  more  of  an  all- 
round  engineer  than  any  other;  he  must  not  only  have  the  funda- 
mental knowledge  of  theoretical  and  applied  electricity,  but  in  addition 
must  be  reasonably  familiar  with  much  of  civil,  steam,  hydraulic,  and 
gas  engineering^ 

Moreover,  he  should  have  some  general  instruction  concerning  the 
public  service  corporation  methods  of  the  division  of  labor,  accounting, 
and  general  policy  toward  the  public;  on  the  law  of  contracts;  and  on 
the  interpretation  of  specifications  and  plans  concerning  both  buildings 
and  equipment. 

Many  of  the  universities  are  recognizing  the  fact  that  the  engineers 
are  doing  from  one-third  to  one-half  more  work  during  the  four  years 
taken  to  graduate  than  are  the  academic  students.  This,  of  course, 
is  largely  due  to  the  relatively  great  number  of  hours  spent  in  the 
laboratory,  and  commendable  changes  are  already  being  made  in  sev- 
eral technical  colleges,  substituting  a  five  or  six  year  course  for  the 
four-year  course  heretofore  required. 

With  the  ever-increasing  additions  to  the  present  great  'store  of 
technical  knowledge,  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  expressing  my  belief  that 
the  institutions  that  are  in  the  lead  with  a  five  or  six  year  technical 
course  will  readily  find  better  positions  for  their  graduates  than  will 
the  others.  It  certainly  appears  reasonable  that  in  an  institution  having 
well-equipped  laboratories  and  a  corps  of  competent  instructors,  it 
is  possible  for  the  student  during  the  one  or  two  extra  years  to  do 
much  more  for  himself  than  would  be  possible  in  the  same  time  after 
leaving  at  the  end  of  a  four-year  course  with  what  amounts  to  a  too 
hastily  swallowed  dose  of  everything  taken;  this  is -evidenced  not  infre- 
quently by  cases  of  acute  mental  indigestion  and,  as  complained  of  by 
the  manufacturers,  an  utter  lack  of  originality,  judgment,  or  logic  in 
meeting  shop  requirements. 


SCOTT.  277 

The  longer  course  gives  the  student  time  for  some  attention  to 
athletics,  social  functions,  perusal  of  current  engineering  literature, 
a  better  training  in  culture  subjects  and  a  much  more  thorough  train- 
ing in  theoretical  and  applied  engineering,  than  a  four-year  course. 
My  view  of  the  situation,  considering  the  best  interests  of  the  students, 
is  that  any  college  offering  technical  courses  leading  to  an  electrical 
engineering  degree,  should  require  the  equivalent  of  a  five-year  course 
to  obtain  the  B.  Sc.  degree  in  electrical  engineering,  with  the  further 
provision  that  the  E.  E.  degree  be  allowed  for  an  additional  year  of 
study  involving  a  thesis  covering  original  research  work;  maintaining 
the  standard  entrance  requirements  as  at  present  and  the  same  for  all 
students. 

I  venture  to  presume  that  the  two  additional  years  thus  covered 
by  the  student  in  the  university  would  be  of  more  benefit  to  him  even- 
tually than  the  first  five  years  following  the  completion  of  a  four-year 
course  if  spent  elsewhere.  « 

The  answer  to  the  first  question  involves  to  some  extent  the  answer 
to  the  second.  It  is  evident,  if  the  presumption  be  granted  that  four 
years  is  too  short  a  time  for  the  college  man  to  complete  an  electrical 
engineering  course,  that  the  methods  of  teaching  might  be  improved. 
It  does  not  necessarily  follow,  however,  that  an  increase  of  time  required 
would  involve  a  change  in  sequence  of  subjects. 


So  far  as  laboratory  courses  are  concerned,  I  believe  it  to  be  pos 
sible  to  meet  the  criticisms  of  employers  of  students  to  some  extent. 
In  some  of  the  engineering  laboratories  the  students  have  nearly  all 
connections  made  for  them  and  their  chief  duty  one  and  all  in  a 
test  is  to  read  instruments  and  record  their  readings.  I  think  that  is 
the  limit  of  poor  laboratory  instruction.  The  student  regards  it  as  a 
special  dispensation  at  the  time,  but  if  he  is  required  to  direct  a  shop 
test  later  on,  he  will  no  doubt  act  as  though  devoid  of  "human  common 
sense."  He  does  not  know  what  to  do,  much  less  how  to  direct  others. 
The  laboratory  course  that  will  most  nearly  meet  the  adverse  criticism 
of  employers  today  is  the  one  wherein  the  students  are  required  to- 
make  all  machine  and  instrument  connections,  and  also  that  requires 
some  one  of  the  members  of  a  section  to  act  as  director  of  the  test 
at  every  period,  and  be  responsible  to  a  reasonable  extent  for  the  use 
of  machines  and  instruments.  This  arrangement  is  not  intended  to  re- 
lieve the  instructor  from  his  duties  in  the  least;  on  the  contrary,  it  may 
add  something  to  them,  for  the  student  whose  turn  it  may  be  to  direct 
the  test  should  confer  with  him  beforehand  in  order  to  be  sure  that  he 


278  COLLEGE  TRAINING  OF  ELECTRICAL  ENGINEERS. 

understands  the  test  completely,  and  also  to  learn  what  instruments  are 
available  for  the  test. 

It  is  only  by  actually  directing  men  that  one  learns  how  to  do  it, 
and  if  the  students  gain  some  practice  in  this  way  in  the  laboratory,  they 

may  be  less  criticised  after  entering  practical  work. 

*  *  *  *  *  #  *  *  *  * 

To  sum  up,  then,  finally: 

(1)  The  demands  of  present-day  electrical   engineering  are  such 
as  to  make  the  extension  of  the  normal  college  course  of  four  years  to 
five  years  highly  desirable. 

(2)  To  stimulate  the  interest  of  the  students  in  professional  engi- 
neering early  in   their  college   course,   and  to  bring  the   students   into 
contact   with   professional   electrical  engineers,   the  head   of   the  school 
or  an  associate  professor   should  give  a   course   in  electrical   engineer- 
ing physics  to  first-year  men. 

(3)  Conference  hours  should  be  held  in  connection  with  theoreti- 
cal work;  one  conference  hour   for  each  two  or  three  hours'  lectures 
to  juniors  and  seniors  on  engineering  subjects. 

(4)  Laboratory   courses   in   electrical   engineering   strictly,   should 
require    the    students    to    arrange    all    connections    to    instruments    and 
machines  in  the  electrical  laboratories,  or  the  connecting  of  all  auxiliary 
apparatus  for  tests  in  steam  or  gas  engineering  laboratories,   together 
with  the  direction  of  the  section  on  each  test  performed  by  some  one  of 
the  section  previously  designated  by  the  instructor. 

Such  changes,  I  believe,  would  materially  assist  the  engineering 
students  to  attain  the  scholarship  rank  of  students  in  other  university 
departments  and  also  more  successfully  to  meet  the  demands  of  com- 
mercial practice. 


THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  PROFES- 
SION AND  HOW  FT  MAY  £E  IMPROVED. 

By 
Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell. 

This  address  was  delivered  on  January  18,  1911,  at  the 'University 
of  Nebraska  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  its  new  Engineering 
Building.  While  it  is  not  intended  specially  for  students,  nevertheless 
they  ought  to  be  interested  in  it,  because  it  treats  of  a  question  of  vital 
interest  to  all  members  of  the  engineering  profession,  both  present  and 
prospective. 

Editors. 


279 


THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  PROFES- 
SION AND  HOW  IT  MAY  BE  IMPROVED. 

By 
Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell. 

While  engineering  is  certainly  the  oldest  of  all  the  professions,  in 
that  it  dates  back  to  the  time  when  prehistoric  man  first  performed  his 
simple  constructions  in  stone  and  timber,  it  is  really  the  youngest  of 
the  so-called  learned  professions.  In  fact,  it  is  only  of  late  years  that 
it  has  been  admitted  into  that  honorable  company.  Not  more  than 
a  generation  or  two  ago  it  was  claimed,  even  by  some  engineers, 
that  engineering  was  not  a  profession  but  merely  a  trade;  and,  truth 
"  to  tell,  there  was  some  reason  in  the  statement;  but  today  all  that  is 
changed,  because  not  only  is  engineering  truly  a  profession,  but  it  is 
undoubtedly  the  greatest  and  most  important  of  them  all,  in  that  the 
wonderful  progress  of  the  world  during  the  last  century  has  been 
effected  mainly  by  the  work  of  engineers.  Where  would  civilization 
stand  today  without  railroads,  electric  power,  the  telegraph,  the  tele- 
phone, the  steam  engine,  steamboats,  irrigation,  water-supply,  bridges, 
steel  buildings,  mines,  and  many  other  important  necessities  and  luxuries 
too  numerous  to  mention  ?  All  these  have  been  evolved  in  the  engineer's 
busy  brain  and  have  been  developed  by  his  untiring  energy. 

But  because  of  its  youth  as  a  learned  profession,  engineering  in 
the  public  mind  has  not  that  status  which  justly  is  its  due;  and  for  the 
same  reason  it  is  materially  and  unnecessarily  hampered  in  several  ways. 
Among  the  various  handicaps  under  which  it  is  still  laboring  may  be 
mentioned  the  following: 

First:  Engineers  as  a  class  are  insufficiently  paid,  especially  for 
important  work. 

Second:  The  engineer  on  any  construction  is  not  as  well  protected 
by  law,  in  regard  to  his  compensation,  as  is  either  the  workman  or  the 
furnisher  of  materials. 

Third:  There  is  no  established  written  code  of  engineering  ethics 
to  govern  the  members  of  the  profession  in  their  relations  with  each 
other  and  with  the  public.  It  is  true  that  there  is  an  unwritten  code,  but 
it  is  far  from  being  effective. 

Fourth:  The  engineering  profession  is  not  properly  respected  by 
the  general  public. 

281 


282  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

In  regard  to  the  first  complaint,  viz.,  that  engineers  are  insuffi- 
ciently paid — that  is  mainly  through  their  own  fault.  In  this  particular 
they  are  not  as  well  off  as  masons,  bricklayers,  or  even  common  labor- 
ers, all  of  whom  have  organizations  to  ensure  their  being  properly  com- 
pensated for  their  labor.  However,  there  is  now  being  effected  in  New 
York  City  a  society  termed  "The  American  Institute  of  Consulting  En- 
gineers," whose  main  object  will  be  to  regulate  the  minimum  rates  of 
compensation  among  independent  practitioners  for  all  kinds  of  engineer- 
ing services  and  to  determine  exactly  what  expenses  should  be  borne  by 
the  client  and  what  by  the  engineer.  Although  the  "Institute"  is  un- 
doubtedly governed  by  selfish  motives  and  may,  perhaps,  correctly  be 
termed  a  "union"  or  "guild,"  it  is,  nevertheless,  a  worthy  organization; 
and,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  destined  to  effect  considerable  good,  provided 
that  its  members  will  hold  together  and  be  governed  in  their  conduct  by 
the  rules  and  regulations  which  it  adopts.  As  great  innovations  gener- 
ally come  slowly,  it  will  probably  be  several  years  before  the  influence 
of  the  "Institute"  begins  to  be  materially  felt. 

As  for  the  second  complaint,  it  will  take  much  strenuous  and  con- 
certed effort  by  a  number  of  the  leading  engineering  societies  before  the 
laws  of  the  country  can  be  so  changed  as  efficiently  to  protect  engineers 
against  the  dishonest  practices  of  unscrupulous  employers.  The  labor- 
ers and  furnishers  of  materials  for  any  construction  are  protected  in 
respect  to  their  compensation  by  their  ability  to  place  liens  upon  the 
work;  but  the  engineer  is  not.  Whenever  a  company  engaged  in  con- 
struction gets  into  financial  difficulties,  the  first  man  on  the  job  to  have 
his  pay  withheld  is  the  engineer,  and  he  is  generally  the  last  under  such 
circumstances  to  receive  his  compensation — in  fact,  often  he  fails  ever 
to  get  it.  This  is  because  he  recognizes  only  too  well  the  law's  delays 
and  the  expense  of  -litigation,  and  that  generally,  after  the  other  em- 
ployees' accounts  are  settled,  there  is  nothing  left  with  which  to  pay 
him. 

Concerning  the  third  complaint,  viz.,  lack  of  a  code  of  ethics,  the 
speaker  has  a  right  to  consider  himself  an  authority  upon  the  evil  effects 
thereof ;  for  a  large  portion  of  the  work  of  his  partner  and  himself  is  the 
protecting  of  the  firm's  interests  against  the  attacks  of  unscrupulous  con- 
tractors and  engineers. 

Over  and  over  again,  in  his  career,  has  he  been  forced  temporarily 
to  lay  aside  the  actual  work  of  planning  important  structures  which  had 
been  awarded  to  him  (the  finalities  of  contracts  not  having  been  com- 
pleted) in  order  to  meet  the  opposition  of  brother  engineers  and  to  frus- 
trate attempts  on  their  part  to  take  away  such  contracts  and  secure  them 
for  themselves 


WADDELL.  283 

That  the  public  should  fail  to  recognize  the  high  position  •  of  the 
Engineer  and  his  consequent  rights  and  dues  is  deeply  to  be  regretted; 
but  that  his  co-workers  in  the  profession  should  fall  so  far  short  of  the 
true  measure  of  nobility  is  a  matter  of  much  greater  importance.  The 
former  condition  may  be  due  to  ignorance,  and  therefore  excusable;  but 
the  latter  is  a  flagrant  violation  not  merely  of  professional  ethics,  but  of 
the  common  justice  and  fair  play  which  should  always  govern  between 
man  and  man. 

This  is  a  condition  and  not  a  theory  which  confronts  us;  and  it  must 
be  met  by  engineers  in  a  noble,  manly,  and  generous  spirit,  each  resolv- 
ing within  himself  to  devote  his  influence  and  energy  to  the  advance- 
ment of  mankind  in  general  and  the  profession  and  his  fellow  members 
thereof  in  particular  by  all  means  in  his  power,  and  never  to  be  found  in 
that  body  of  carping  critics,  back  biters,  and  unscrupulous  antagonists 
whose  sole  effort  is  to  pull  down  and  destroy  the  works,  reputations,  or 
characters  of  those  who  have  been  successful  in  their  practice  or  who 
are  endeavoring  to  do  what  is  right  and  just  in  thought,  word,  and  deed. 

The  carrying  forward  of  any  code  of  ethics  is  mainly  an  individual 
matter,  and  the  responsibility  for  its  success  lies  with  each  engineer. 
Therefore  let  each  one  decide  for  himself  that  no  possible  gain  of  repu- 
tation or  riches  is  great  enough  to  bias  or  prejudice  him  in  regard  to  the 
rights  of  anyone,  and  especially  of  a  brother  engineer. 

Not  until  such  a  rule  of  conduct  becomes  general  and  firmly  estab- 
lished among  engineers,  will  the  public  grant  to  the  profession  the  rec- 
ognition which  is  due  to  it  because  of  the  importance  of  the  work  which 
its  members  perform. 

During  the  last  two  years  there  has  been  on  the  tapis  an  endeavor 
to  form  a  professional  association  of  the  highest  order  with  the  object 
of  correcting  all  the  evils  from  which  engineering  is  suffering  and  to 
make  it  a  real  power  in  the  land.  Unfortunately,  the  organization  is  not 
yet  quite  perfected,  consequently  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  mention  to- 
day its  title  nor  the  names  of  its  principal  promoters  who  have  been 
chosen  from  the  leading  American  engineers  in  all  divisions  of  the  pro- 
fession. However,  I  am  permitted  to  speak  to  you  of  its  scope  and  ob- 
jects ;  and  ere  long  these  will  be  made  known  to  the  public  through  the 
technical  press. 

Quoting  from  the  proposed  constitution,  "Its  objects  shall  be:  To 
dignify  and  exalt  the  profession  of  engineer  in  the  broad  sense,  and  to 
place  it  upon  the  highest  plane  amongst  the  liberal  professions ;  to  bring 
the  different  branches  of  the  engineering  profession  into  closer  touch 
and  harmony  with  each  other ;  to  bring  American  and  foreign  engineers 
into  closer  relations  with  each  other ;  and  to  secure  for  the  engineering 


284  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

profession  as  a  whole  the  recognition  commensurate  with  the  importance 
of  its  services  to  the  world. 

"It  will  strive  to  accomplish  these  objects  by  all  proper,  honorable, 
and  legitimate  ways  and  means ;  by  fostering,  stimulating,  and  encourag- 
ing the  growth  and  development  of  the  highest  professional  spirit, 
ideals,  and  ethics  uniformly  in  all  branches  of  engineering;  by  promot- 
ing a  better  understanding  and  sympathy  between  these  different 
branches;  by  advocating  more  homogeneous  and  consistent  rules  and 
precepts  for  their  guidance  in  their  relations  with  each  other  and  with 
the  rest  of  the  world;  by  working  for  general  co-operation  and  solid- 
arity ;  by  fostering  an  esprit  de  corps  in  the  profession  as  a  whole ;  by 
doing  all  in  its  power  to  elevate  the  standard  and  promote  the  interests 
of  the  profession ;  and  by  urging  its  claims,  or  those  of  its  more  distin- 
guished and  eminent  votaries,  to  due  and  proper  consideration  for  public 
or  private  honor  or  recognition." 

That  great  results  can  confidently  be  expected  from  the  work  of  this 
proposed  organization  may  be  concluded  from  the  type  of  men  chosen 
and  still  to  be  chosen  for  membership  and  from  the  interest  in  the  move- 
ment thus  far  shown.  To  give  you  some  conception  of  the  class  of  men 
who  will  belong  to  this  association,  the  following  further  quotation  is 
made  from  the  proposed  constitution : 

"The  qualifications  of  a  candidate  for  Member  shall  include  the  fol- 
lowing requirements : 

"He  must  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
"He  must  be  at  least  forty  years  of  age. 

"He  must  have  a  degree  from  a  University  or  Technical  School  of 
recognized  standing. 

"He  must  have  a  reading  knowledge  of  at  least  one  European  lan- 
guage, or  else  of  Esperanto,  besides  the  English  language. 

"He  must  be  a  member,  in  good  standing,  of  the  highest  grade,  in 
at  least  one  national  engineering  or  technical  society  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

"He  must  have  practiced  or  else  taught  engineering,  or  some  cog- 
nate branch  of  technology  (such  as  chemistry)  continuously  for  a  period 
of  not  less  than  fifteen  years,  and  he  must  be  still  engaged  actively  in 
practicing  or  teaching  or  both. 

"He  must  have  been  in  responsible  charge  of  engineering  or  tech- 
nical work  or  design  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  five  years.  If  teach- 
ing, he  must  have  been  in  charge  of  a  department  in  a  school  of  rec- 
ognized standing  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  ten  years. 


WADDELL.  285 

(In  the  case  of  candidates  who  have  taught  and  practiced  at  dif- 
ferent portions  of  their  careers,  two  years  of  teaching  shall  be  con- 
sidered the  equivalent  of  one  year  of  engineering  practice.) 

"He  must  have  been  identified  with  work  of  importance  either  by 
reason  of  its  magnitude  or  else  because  of  its  novel  or  special  character ; 
and  it  must  be  shown  that  he  has  made  a  satisfactory  record  and  has 
obtained  a  good  standing  in  his  branch  of  the  profession  through  his; 
technical  work. 

(In  the  case  of  a  teacher  of  engineering  or  of  technology,  the  pub- 
lication of  original  books  relative  to  his  branch  or  branches  of  the  pro- 
fession shall  be  taken  as  the  equivalent  of  engineering  work.) 

"He  must  be  the  author  of  at  least  one  important  original  pub- 
lication on  some  subject  or  topic  related*  to  at  least  one  branch  of  en- 
gineering. 

"He  must  have  a  personal  as  well  as  professional  record,  reputa- 
tion, and  standing  entitling  him  to  the  highest  consideration  as  a  pro- 
fessional gentleman  who  is  devoted  to  the  progress  and  advancement 
of  the  engineering  profession  and  who  is  interested  in  promoting  the  wel- 
fare and  sustaining  the  dignity  of  that  profession. 

"In  general,  the  intellectual  status  of  the  candidate,  and  the  personal 
traits  or  qualities  making  him  a  credit  and  an  ornament  to  the  profes- 
sion of  engineering,  and,  especially,  his  zeal  and  devotion  to  that  pro- 
fession, shall  be  the  paramount  considerations  in  determining  his  fit- 
ness. His  financial  status  shall  be  of  no  consideration  whatever. 

"Any  of  the  foregoing  requirements  may  be  waived  in  any  par- 
ticular case  in  behalf  of  a  candidate  otherwise  very  desirable;  but  the 
said  waiver  shall  be  only  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors." 

Two  of  the  preceding  clauses  quoted  from  the  constitution  set  forth 
clearly  and  concisely  the  main  objects  of  the  proposed  association;  but 
there  are  many  minor  or  subsidiary  objects,  which  were  mentioned  in  an 
address  of  mine  delivered  at  the  first  meeting,  from  which  address  per- 
mit me  to  quote,  with  a  few  slight  and  at  present  unavoidable  altera- 
tions, as  follows: 

"The  augmenting  of  individual  effort  among  engineers  of  all 
classes  by  setting  before  them  in  membership  in  this  organization  a  goal 
to  attain  and  a  distinction  well  worth  striving  for. 

"Such  a  result  is  the  inevitable  sequence  of  the  materialization  of 
our  project — and  it  will  come  at  once,  without  delay. 

"The  establishment  of  a  court  of  last  appeal  in  all  matters  relating 
to  the  profession. 


286  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

"While  our  association,  of  course,  could  not  properly  suggest  its 
services  in  this  direction,  the  call  will  assuredly  come;  but  it  will  take 
time  to  establish  the  organization  as  the  natural  means  of  settling  dis- 
puted professional  matters. 

"The  influencing  of  legislation,  both  state  and  national  to  promote 
the  development  of  the  profession  and  to  take  action  in  worthy  enter- 
prises which  involve  engineering. 

"If  our  association  were  to  give  its  formal  endorsement  to  any 
proposed  measure,  such  approval  would  carry  great  weight  in  securing 
legislation ;  but  extreme  caution  would  have  to  be  exercised  in  all  cases 
in  order  to  avoid  endorsing  projects  of  doubtful  utility  and  those  of  a 
chimerical  nature. 

"The  choosing  of  engineers  for  special  services,  both  public  and 
private. 

"Here  again  our  association  could  never  legitimately  take  the  initia- 
tive, but  it  would  soon  become  customary,  among  those  needing  expert 
services  and  not  knowing  how  best  to  secure  them,  to  appeal  thereto  for 
advice.  Such  advice  should  invariably  be  given  after  due  deliberation; 
and  all  decisions  should  be  absolutely  unbiased  by  personal  leanings. 
Those  most  fit  for  the  work  contemplated  should  always  be  chosen;  and 
where  several  names  are  recommended  for  the  same  position,  it  should 
be  made  clear  whether  all  are  considered  to  be  of  equal  fitness  or  else 
what  is  the  gradation. 

"The  extending  of  American  engineering  influence  abroad,  especial- 
ly to  the  Latin-American  republics. 

"This  object  is  one  of  exceeding  importance,  not  merely  to  the  en- 
gineering profession  in  the  United  States,  but  also  to  the  Nation,  for 
with  the  engineers  will  undoubtedly  go  trade. 

"The  inauguration  of  a  code  of  ethics  for  engineers  in  general. 

"No  engineering  society  has  yet  been  strong  enough  to  establish 
such  a  code,  but  our  association  in  time  could  succeed  where  other 
organizations  have  failed.  It  is  an  object  well  worth  striving  for,  al- 
though certainly  difficult  of  accomplishment. 

"The  exchanging  of  ideas  with  engineers  of  foreign   countries. 

"This  could  be  done  best  through  the  honorary  members,  who  should 
be  encouraged  to  send  yearly  statements  of  the  progress  of  engineering 
in  general  that  has  been  effected  in  their  respective  countries  during  the 
past  twelve  months.  One  honorary  member  in  each  country  repre- 
sented should  be  appointed  as  a  committee  to  report  thus. 

"Increase  of  compensation  for  engineers. 

"Although  at  first  thought  this  might  seem  a  rather  sordid  object 
for  our  association  to  foster,  it  is  really  not  so;  because  by  increasing 


WADDELL.  287 

the  value  of  engineers'  services  the  public  is  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  the  profession.  In  my  opinion,  we  should  employ  every 
legitimate  means  to  further  this  object. 

"Improvement  in  engineering  literature. 

"By  bringing  into  closer  touch  the  practicing  engineers  and  the 
professors  of  engineering  and  by  encouraging  them  to  work  together  on 
engineering  literature,  great  improvements  in  its  quality  and  scope  could 
be  effected. 

"Encouraging  of  original  research. 

"Our  association  by  giving  its  endorsement  to  any  proposed  inves- 
tigation of  a  praiseworthy  nature  could  aid  greatly  in  securing  the 
necessary  financial  aid  therefor,  -either  from  Governmental  or  private 
sources. 

"Establishment  of  testing  apparatus. 

"An  endorsement  by  our  association  of  any  proposed  apparatus  for 
testing  any  of  the  materials  used  in  engineering  would  be  of  service  in 
securing  the  requisite  funds  for  its  construction. 

"Many  improvements,  reforms,  and  innovations  would  naturally 
be  brought  about  through  papers  presented  to  the  association;  and  in 
fact  such  presentation  would  be  the  most  logical  procedure  to  secure 
action  on  anything  of  the  kind.  To  show  you  that  there  are  numerous 
proper  subjects  for  such  papers,  permit  me  to  suggest  the  following 
topics : 

"1.  The  Study  of  Foreign  Languages  in  American  Technical  In- 
stitutions. 

2.  The  Ethics  of  Engineering. 

3.  Latin-America  as  a  Field  for  American  Engineers. 

4.  China,  ditto. 

5.  Africa,  ditto. 

6.  How  to  bring  American  Engineers  into  Closer  Relations  with 
those  of  Foreign  Countries. 

7.  How  to  Bring  American  Engineers  of  the  Various  Groups  into 
Closer  Relations  with  Each  Other. 

8.  How  to  Avoid  the  Possibility  of  Disaster  to  all  Great  Public 
or  Private  Constructions. 

9.  Engineering  Fees. 

10.  The  Best  Technical  Books  for  Engineers  in  the  Various  Spec- 
ialties.    (This  would  be  a  series  of  papers  or  a  combined  paper  by  a 
specially    appointed    committee    representing   the   various    specialties    in 
engineering.) 

11.  How  Best  to  Enhance  the  Dignity  of  the  Engineering   Pro- 
fession in  the  Minds  of  the  General  Public. 


288  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

12.  How  to  Improve  Future  Engineering  Literature. 

13.  Engineering  Degrees. 

14.  Expert  Engineering  Evidence  in  Courts  of  Law. 

15.  Punishment  for  Unprofessional  Conduct. 

16.  Post  Graduate  Schools  for  Engineers. 

17.  How  Best  to  Encourage  Original  Research  in  Engineering. 

18.  The   Necessity  for  Great  Testing  Machines  and  Engineering 
Research  Facilities,  and  How  to  Procure  Them. 

19.  How  to  Improve  the  Methods  of  Inspection  in  the  Manufac- 
ture of  Steel  Construction. 

20.  What  Should  be  Done  to  Develop  American   Ship-building? 

21.  Suggestions  as  to  the  Best  Manner  of  Developing  the  Pos- 
sible Water  Powers  of  the  United  States. 

22.  The    Advisability    of    Improving   and    Developing   the    Great 
Waterways  of  the  United  States. 

23.  Sea-Level  versus  Locks  for  the  Panama  Canal. 

24.  How  Best  to  Develop  the  Resources  of  Alaska. 

25.  How   Best  to  Develop  the  Resources  of  the   Island   Posses- 
sions of  the  United  States. 

26.  Improvement  in  the  Teaching  of  English  in  Technical  Schools. 

27.  The  Needs  in  Engineering  and  Technological  Courses  of  In- 
struction to  Attain  their  Fullest  Development. 

28.  How  Best  to  Conserve  the  Supply  of  American  Timber  and 
to  Economize  in  its  Use. 

29.  The  Conservation  of  the  Coal  Supply  of  the  United  States. 

30.  How  to  Bring  Engineers  into  Closer  Relations  with  the  Pure 
Scientists. 

31.  The  Extent  to  which  Students  in  the  Various  Lines  of  Engi- 
neering Should  be  Taught  Mathematics,  and  How. 

32.  How  Best  to  Develop  a  Proper  Enthusiasm  for  the  Profession 
in  Engineering  Students  and  Young  Engineers. 

33.  The  Relations  Between  Engineering  and  Political  Economy. 

34.  The  Relations  between  the  Engineering  Profession  and  Law. 

35.  How  Best  to  Control  and  Limit  the  Pollution  of  American 
Rivers  and  Streams. 

36.  Engineering  and  Sociology. 

37.  Engineering  and  Politics. 

38.  Aesthetics  in  Engineering  Constructions. 

39.  The  Study  of  True  Economy  in  Engineering  Designs. 

40.  The  Relations  Between  Engineering  and  Architecture. 

41.  The  Beautification  of  American  Cities. 


WADDELL.  289 

42.  The  Preparation  of  a  Dictionary  of  Technical  Terms  used  in 
American  Engineering  and  their  Equivalents  in  Various  Foreign  Lan- 
guages. 

43.  How  Best  to  Develop  and  Control  the  Irrigation  of  the  Arid 
Lands  of  the  United  States. 

44.  The  Preparation  of  a  History  of  Engineering,  either  as  a  whole 
or  as  developed  in  the  United  States. 

45.  Smoke  Prevention. 

46.  Uniform     Engineering     Terminology     for     English-Speaking 
Countries. 

47.  The    Furthering   of   Legislation    Conducive   to   the   Advance- 
ment of  Engineering  and  of  Public  and  Private  Enterprise. 

"This  is  a  pretty  long  list  of  subjects,  but  it  might  easily  have  been 
made  still  more  extensive.  Enough  topics  have  been  enumerated,  how- 
ever, to  show  that  there  will  be  no  dearth  of  matter  to  occupy  legiti- 
mately the  attention  and  energies  of  the  members  of  our  association. 

"Some  of  you  may  have  noticed  that  many  of  the  topics  proposed 
come  under  the  scope  of  political  economy;  and  it  may  be  objected  that 
such  is  not  engineers'  work,  but  with  that  objection  I  beg  emphatically 
to  differ.  Political  economy  is  a  subject  that  can  be  treated  only  by 
men  of  years,  learning,  and  experience;  and  what  body  of  men  can 
there  be  found  so  well  developed  in  these  lines  as  the  members  of  our 
proposed  organization?  It  is  the  engineers  who  make  the  world  move, 
and  who  so  competent  as  they  to  say  in  what  manner  it  should  be  made 
to  move?  There  is,  in  my  opinion,  no  other  class  of  men  so  well  fitted 
as  engineers  to  deal  with  questions  involving  political  economy. 

"It  would  be  eminently  right  and  proper  for  our  association  to  dis- 
cuss such  subjects  of  great  public  interest  as  the  Panama  Canal,  even 
when  unsolicited;  because  it  is  the  right  of  every  American  citizen  to 
have  his  say  about  how  the  money  which  he  helps  to  furnish  for  such 
enterprises  shall  be  spent.  An  unsolicited  opinion  from  our  association 
on  such  matters  would  carry  great  weight  with  both  the  public  and  the 
Government." 

I  trust  that  you  will  pardon  me  for  devoting  most  of  the  time 
allotted  my  address  to  a  discussion  of  this  proposed  organization,  be- 
cause I  am  so  deeply  interested  in  the  success  of  the  movement,  and  also 
because  I  believe  it  is  destined  to  do  far  more  for  the  advancement  of  the 
engineering  profession  than  anything  that  has  ever  been  attempted. 


THE  ENGINEER'S  DUTY  AS  A  CITIZEN. 

By 
Rear  Admiral  Geo.  W.  Melville,  U.  S.  N.,  Ret. 

This  paper,  which  was  presented  in  July,  1910,  to  the  American 
Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  is  by  one  of  America's  most  vigorous 
technical  writers;  and  the  elegance  of  its  diction  is  strikingly  apparent. 
Moreover,  it  treats  of  a  subject  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Engineering  Profession,  consequently  it  should  prove 
interesting  reading  for  technical  students. 

Editors. 


291 


THE  ENGINEER'S  DUTY  AS  A  CITIZEN. 

By 
Rear  Admiral  Geo.  W.  Melville,  U.  S.  N.,  Ret. 

Doubtless  everyone  present  has  read  Macaulay's  famous  chapter, 
in  his  History  of  England,  which  describes  the  conditions  obtaining 
in  1685.  This  chapter  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  descriptions  in 
all  literature,  giving  as  it  does  the  details  of  every  feature  of  the  life 
of  that  time,  some  200  years  ago.  I  refer  to  this  account  because  I 
want  you  to  contrast  it  with  the  conditions  of  today,  to  which  we  are 
so  accustomed  that  it  requires  some  effort  to  remember  that  the  com- 
fort and  conveniences  of  the  poor  man  of  today  are  beyond  the  wildest 
dreams  of  the  wealthiest  men  of  the  period  described  by  Macaulay. 
At  that  time  there  were  no  sidewalks,  and  the  streets  were  unlighted; 
the  highways  became  bogs  in  rainy  weather,  and  highway  robbery 
was  almost  a  recognized  profession ;  sanitation  and  sewerage  were 
unknown,  and  refuse  heaps  accumulated  under  the  windows  of  the 
great  and  the  wealthy;  it  was  dangerous  to  go  out  alone  at  night;  and 
it  was  still  legal  to  hang  the  unfortunate  who  stole  a  loaf  of  bread. 

Macaulay  remarks  in  one  place  that  at  such  fashionable  watering 
places  as  Bath,  the  nobility  had  to  put  up  with  accommodations  at  which 
their  servants  in  the  year  1850,  in  which  he  was  writing,  would  turn 
up  their  noses. 

Now  when  we  compare  the  two  periods  and  remember  that  there 
is  hardly  a  branch  of  human  activity  in  which  there  has  not  been  the 
greatest  improvement,  we  are  naturally  led  to  ask  to  whom  is  the  im- 
provement due. 

In  all  fairness,  we  should  doubtless  have  to  say  that  most  of  the 
professions  have  had  a  part  in  the  amelioration  of  conditions,  although 
the  student  of  history  remembers  with  regret  how  the  great  lawyers 
opposed  the  remission  of  the  death  penalty  for  what  we  would  now 
consider  minor  offenses. 

Physicians  are  undoubtedly  entitled  to  much  credit  for  advances  in 
medicine,  surgery,  sanitation,  and  hygiene ;  and  we  might  go  on  and  give 
credit  to  others.  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  when  some  future 
Macaulay  describes  the  condition  of  the  United  States  at  the  beginning 
of  the  twentieth  century  and  attempts  to  award  the  credit  for  the  exist- 
•ing  comforts  and  conveniences,  the  major  part  must  be  given  to  the 

293 


294  ENGINEER'S  DUTY  AS  A  CITIZEN. 

profession  of  engineering.  Within  100  years  after  the  time  described 
by  Macaulay,  Watt  had  so  far  perfected  the  steam  engine  as  to  bring 
about  the  beginnings  of  the  factory  system,  making  possible  the  low 
cost  of  clothing  and  of  articles  of  manufacture  of  every  kind.  In  a 
century  the  steamboat  and  the  railroad  had  come  into  being.  Then  we 
had  gas  for  illumination  and  the  telegraph  for  rapid  communication,  and 
so  on  down  the  line  to  the  present  day  with  its  electric  light,  electric 
railroad,  and  telephone,  every  one  due  to  the  engineer. 

Added  to  the  superior  facilities  of  communication  by  railroad  and 
steamer  came  mechanical  refrigeration,  which  enables  the  densely 
populated  countries  of  the  old  world  to  be  supplied  with  meats  from 
the  great  plains  of  the  new,  and  these  superior  means  of  transporta- 
tion have  provided  the  rapid  movement  of  food  products  so  that  the 
whole  world  contributes  to  the  delicacies  of  our  table,  no  matter  where 
we  are. 

The  contrast  between  the  conditions  of  the  great  cities  of  the  period 
described  by  Macaulay  with  those  of  to-day  is  startling.  Cities  were 
without  the  conveniences  which  a  country  town  of  moderate  size  would 
now  consider  absolute  necessities.  The  systems  of  water  distribution, 
sewerage,  street  paving,  etc.,  are  all  the  work  of  the  engineer,  and  nitra- 
tion plants  obviously  are  engineering  works,  even  if  we  consider  their 
inception  to  be  due  to  the  medical  men. 

Perhaps  you  ask  why  I  should  go  into  these  details  which  are 
common  knowledge,  when  their  mention  can  give  little  additional  in- 
formation. My  reason  is  that  I  want  to  emphasize  the  facts  as  a  basis 
for  the  discussion  of  the  question:  What  does  the  engineer  owe  to 
society  when  society  owes  so  much  to  the  engineer? 

In  the  early  history  of  the  race,  when  war  was  the  almost  con- 
stant condition,  it  was  inevitable  that  the  great  warrior  should  become 
the  leader  and  ruler  of  the  people.  As  time  went  on,  the  engineer 
developed,  as  we  know  from  the  wonderful  works  of  antiquity  like 
the  great  aqueducts,  the  bridges,  tunnels  and  roads;  but,  from  the  past, 
had  come  the  tradition  lodging  leadership  in  the  warrior  caste,  where  it 
remained  for  many  centuries,  and,  indeed,  has  still  a  tendency  to  remain 
in  monarchical  countries. 

During  the  last  century,  wars  have  been  less  frequent,  and,  due 
to  the  engineer,  commerce  has  become  so  prominent  that  while  the 
hereditary  nobility  still  linger  on  the  scene,  their  titles  have  become 
almost  meaningless.  This  was  particularly  noticeable  when  one  of  the 
English  dukes  served  in  the  quartermaster's  department  during  the 
Boer  war  in  a  subordinate  capacity,  and  still  more  so  in  the  war  between 


MELVILLE.  295 

Russia  and  Japan,  when  only  one  Russian  general  was  a  member  of  the 
nobility. 

I  think  you  will  see  the  point  to  which  I  am  leading;  namely, 
that  in  this  "age  of  the  engineer,"  he  should  not  rest  content  simply 
with  doing  the  work  which  makes  for  our  comfort  and  happiness,  at 
the  command  of  others  (men  who  are  lawyers  or  simply  business  men), 
but  that  the  engineer  himself  should  take  a  vital  and  directing  part  in 
the  administration  of  affairs.  I  know  the  objection  that  an  engineer's 
professional  work  is  so  engrossing  and  exacting  that  he  cannot  become 
a  politician  in  the  sense  that  a  politician  is  a  man  who  gives  all  his  time 
to  pulling  wires  and  rilling  offices.  This  is  doubtless  true,  but  where 
it  is  a  matter  of  self-interest,  the  engineer,  like  other  men,  can  find  time 
for  this  extra  work. 

We  Americans  are  fond  of  claiming  that  we  have  the  greatest 
country  and  the  most  free  and  best  government  in  the  world.  That 
government,  however,  for  its  efficiency  and  integrity  depends  upon  us 
as  citizens,  and  it  ought  to  be  a  matter  of  the  greatest  pride  to  every 
American  to  do  his  part,  so  far  as  lies  in  him,  to  make  the  country 
and  its  government  better  and  happier  every  year. 

In  view  of  the  enormously  important  part  which  the  engineer  plays 
in  the  life  of  today,  it  is  incumbent  upon  him,  more  than  upon  most 
other  men,  to  take  a  vital  interest  in  the  work  of  government  and  to  lend 
his  trained  ability  and  judgment  to  its  perfection.  I  do  not  mean,  of 
course,  that  the  engineer  should  do  routine  professional  work  for  the 
government  without  compensation,  but  that  in  the  discussion  of  public 
improvements  and  the  administration  of  governmental  departments,  he 
should  take  an  active  public  stand  to1  influence  and  guide  the  non-expert 
part  of  the  population. 

It  is  notorious  that  enormous  amounts  of  money  have  been  squand- 
ered on  great  public  works  because  they  were  undertaken  in  a  way 
which  every  engineer  knew  must  be  inefficient  and  uneconomical.  If 
all  of  us  as  engineers  had  a  keen  sense  of  our  duty  in  this  respect, 
and  would  properly  utilize  our  experience  and  ability  through  the  daily 
press,  the  magazines,  and  the  reviews  by  public  discussion  and  in  the 
daily  intercourse  of  life,  as  well  as  by  impressing  the  truth  upon  our 
representatives  in  municipal  and  national  affairs,  I  believe  we  should 
accomplish  an  immense  amount  of  good. 

It  will  be  understood,  I  am  sure,  that  in  this  I  refer  almost  entirely 
to  the  relations  of  engineers  to  society  in  general,  and  not  to  other  pro- 
fessional men.  For  many  years  engineers  have  been  most  generous  in 
making  public  to  their  technical  brethren  the  results  of  their  experi- 
ence, and  our  own  Proceedings  are  full  of  instances.  It  would  be  im- 


296  ENGINEER'S  DUTY  AS  A  CITIZEN. 

possible  to  name  more  than  a  few,  but  perhaps  the  most  notable  case 
was  that  of  Past-President  Taylor  in  the  publication  of  the  results  of 
his  life  work  of  research  on  the  Art  of  Cutting  Metals. 

A  problem  of  foremost  importance  at  the  present  time  is  the 
management  of  labor  to  secure  efficient  work  and  satisfied  men.  It 
is  probable  that  the  direction  of  more  than  90  per  cent  of  the  skilled 
labor  is  in  the  hands  of  engineers.  Most  emphatically  is  this  a  case 
where  engineers  owe  a  great  duty  to  society.  It  is,  therefore,  an  es- 
pecial pleasure  to  recognize  that  some  of  our  own  members  have  played 
a  foremost  part  in  the  best  work  that  has  been  done  in  devising  plans 
for  compensating  labor  which  will  stimulate  the  men  to  their  best 
efforts  and  reward  them  adequately.  The  names  of  Halsey,  Taylor, 
Gantt,  and  Emerson  will  at  once  occur  to  you. 

It  would  be  inappropriate  in  this  brief  address  to  attempt  a  de- 
tailed discussion  of  the  labor  problem,  but  I  feel  that  I  shall  voice  the 
sentiment  of  every  one  present  when  I  say  that  the  effort  of  every 
patriotic  American  should  be  exerted  to  maintain  absolute  freedom  of 
contract  in  labor  matters  as  in  all  others.  Just  as  we  are  opposed  to 
monopoly  by  capital,  so  we  are  to  the  same  thing  by  labor. 

No  reasonable  man  objects  to  labor  organizations,  as  such.  They 
have  undoubtedly  been  the  cause  of  much  benefit  to  the  men.  The 
danger  with  them,  as  with  political  organizations,  is  the  formation 
of  a  machine  which  utilizes  the  organization  solely  for  the  selfish  in- 
terests of  the  members  of  the  machine.  There  can  be  no  doubt  what- 
ever that  many  strikes  are  against  the  real  wishes  of  the  majority  of  the 
men,  who  are  overborne  by  the  machine  and  its  adherents;  and  it  is 
also  true  that  the  net  result  of  nea'rly  all  strikes  is  an  actual  loss  to  the 
men.  The  problem  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  one  and  requires  the  great- 
est wisdom,  patience,  and  tact  for  its  complete  solution;  if,  indeed, 
taking  human  nature  as  it  is,  we  can  ever  hope  for  its  removal  from  the 
list  of  worries  of  the  manager  of  great  enterprises. 

Many  questions  prominently  before  the  public  are  peculiarly  such 
as  require  engineering  knowledge  for  their  proper  understanding  and 
regulation.  The  word  trust  has  come  to  have  such  a  sinister  meaning 
that  it  is  only  necessary  to  fasten  it  upon  an  enterprise  to  render  it 
criminal  in  the  popular  estimation.  We  have  recently  heard  a  great 
deal  about  the  so-called  Water  Power  Trust,  the  charge  being  that  all  the 
available  power  sites  were  being  grabbed  so  as  to  subject  our  citizens 
at  some  future  time  to  the  payment  of  tribute  for  electric  power  de- 
rived from  them.  I  am  not  concerned,  at  the  moment,  with  a  discus- 
sion of  monopolies,  which  we  all  deprecate,  but  to  point  out  that  engi- 
neers know  these  water  powers  cannot  be  made  available  except  by  the 


MELVILLE.  297 

expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money.  Indeed,  it  would  be  easy  to 
point  out  the  fortunes  that  have  been  lost  in  the  attempted  exploitation 
of  these  supposedly  lucrative  natural  gifts.  The  general  public  is  ut- 
terly misled,  by  statements  that  these  power  sites  are  obtained  for 
nothing,  the  idea  being  that  the  development  is  a  matter  of  small  ex- 
pense. Here  the  engineer  can  do  a  work  of  real  benefit  by  disseminat- 
ing correct  information.- 

Again,  in  the  consideration  of  public  service  corporations,  the  en- 
gineer knows  the  cost  of  installation  and  operation,  and  so  can  discuss 
intelligently  whether  rates  are  fair  or  exorbitant,  and  whether  capital 
represents  real  investment  or  water.  These  are  problems  of  the  great- 
est importance,  and  for  their  proper  solution,  the  electorate  needs  train- 
ing that  c,an  be  given  by  no  one  else  so  well  as  by  the  engineer. 

About  a  year  ago,  at  our  Washington  meeting,  I  did  what  I  could 
along  this  line  by  pointing  out  mistakes  in  connection  with  navy  yard 
organization,  and  this  illustrates  very  clearly  what  I  am  advocating  for 
all  engineers.  Here  was  a  great  department  of  the  Government  for 
which  the  annual  appropriation  now  exceeds  one  hundred  millions  of 
dollars.  Its  administration  had 'fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  man  who 
started  to  make  changes  in  the  entire  administration  which  would  have 
been  ruinous  to  efficiency;  and  yet,  hardly  a  voice  was  raised  in  opposi- 
tion. I  even  heard  of  a  case  where  one  of  our  leading  engineering 
journals  refused  to  publish  a  criticism  of  this  system  submitted  to  them 
through  a  man  whom  they  knew  and  esteemed  most  highly,  but  who 
stated  that  the  author  was  so  situated  that  he  could  not  permit  his  name 
to  be  used.  Not  only  would  the  magazine  not  print  the  article  but  they 
did  not  take  enough  interest  in  this  most  important  subject  to  study  it 
for  themselves  and  comment  upon  it. 

I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  engineers  never  show  publk  spirit 
in  such  ways  as  I  have  suggested:  there  are  too  many  instances  to  the 
contrary.  Our  own  Society  and  others  which  have  taken  part  in  the 
movement  for  conservation  of  our  national  resources  have  set  a  good 
example,  and  other  cases  could  be  cited  where  individual  engineers 
have  shown  commendable  enthusiasm.  These,  however,  are  mostly  cases 
of  unusual  importance  and  relatively  infrequent.  What  I  am  pleading 
for  is  a  habit  of  mind  that  will  cause  engineers  to  take  an  active  part 
in  all  public  questions,  great  or  small,  where  their  knowledge  and 
experience  will  enable  them  to  contribute  to  the  common  good. 

The  movement  which  has  been  set  on  foot  by  Congress  to  estab- 
lish a  Bureau  of  Mines  suggests  an  opportunity  for  the  engineer  to 
take  an  active  part  in  public  affairs.  I  question  whether  this  idea 
might  not  be  developed  a  little  further  by  providing  for  a  department 


298  ENGINEER'S  DUTY  AS  A  CITIZEN. 

with  a  Cabinet  officer  at  the  head,  to  be  called  the  Department  of  Mines 
and  Manufactures,  with  the  scope  implied  by  the  title1. 

When  we  think  of  the  enormous  values  represented  by  the  indus- 
tries which  would  come  within  the  purview  of  such  a  department,  it 
seems  only  reasonable  that  they  should  be  under  the  care  of  a  Cabinet 
officer.  If  we  are  told  that  there  is  already  the  Bureau  of  Corpora- 
tions, I  would  point  out  that  the  object  of  this  proposed  new  depart- 
ment is  quite  different  from  that  of  the  existing  bureau  which  thus 
far,  in  the  estimation  of  many,  has  clone  little  or  nothing  to  advance  the 
interests  of  manufacturing,  but  has,  in  their  opinion,  disclosed  a  spirit 
which  is  almost  inimical.  The  department  that  I  have  in  mind  would 
aim  to  stimulate  improvement  and  progress  in  manufacturers  and  indus- 
tries generally,  in  somewhat  the  same  way  that  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  has  done  for  the  farmers. 

We  have  often  heard  engineers  complain  that  the  profession 
did  not  receive  due  praise  and  credit  for  its  splendid  work.  This  is 
true  enough,  but  is  the  reason  not  very  largely  because  the  engineer 
hitherto  has  been  content  to  do  the  work  and  then  fade  into  the  back- 
ground, leaving  the  talking  and  the  management  to  the  lawyer  and 
'  the  politician?  With  the  advance  of  technical  education,  engineers 
are  more  and  more  becoming  the  high  officials  of  our  large  corpora- 
tions. It  is  to  these  men,  whose  talents  and  trained  ability  have  made 
them  the  leaders  in  manufacturing  and  in  business,  that  the  country 
has  the  right  to  look  for  leaders  in  the  affairs  of  government,  and  not 
until  the  engineer  of  all  grades  has  done  his  part  towards  the  promo- 
tion of  the  highest  efficiency  of  the  Government  can  he  truly  say  that 
he  is,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term,  a  good  citizen  of  the  Republic. 

1.  This  address  was  prepared  more  than  a  month  ago,  and  since  that 
time  the  bill  in  Congress  referred  to  above  has  become  a  law.  The  news- 
papers have  published  an  item  that  consideration  was  being  given  to  the 
formation  of  a  Department  of  Public  Works.  This  is  along  the  same  general 
lines  as  my  suggestion  above  for  a  Cabinet  officer  to  head  a  department  of 
Mines  and  Manufactures. 


THE  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

By 
Walter  C.  Kerr,  M.  E. 

This  address,  which  was  delivered  to  the  graduating  class  of  Stev- 
ens Institute  of  Technology  on  June  16,  1904,  and  the  two  following  ad- 
dresses are  from  the  pen  of  one  of  America's  most  prominent  mechan- 
ical engineers,  whose  early  death  a  short  time  since  was  a  severe  loss 
to  the  engineering  profession.  Mr.  Kerr  was  a  member  of  the  well 
known  engineering  firm  of  Westinghouse,  Church,.  Kerr,  and  Company, 
which  has  engineered  so  many  great  enterprises  in  this  and  other  coun- 
tries. As  can  be  seen  by  his  writings,  Ivlr.  Kerr  was  a  man  who  was 
truly  interested  in  the  development  of  the  engineering  profession,  and 
especially  in  the  welfare  of  its  student  members. 

The  teachings  of  this  paper  are  so  sound  that  every  student  of  en- 
gineering should  familiarize  himself  with  them  and  apply  them  in  his 
work  as  both  student  and  engineer. 

Editors. 


299 


THE  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

By 
Walter  C.  Kerr,  M.  E. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  talk  to  a  lot  of  young  men  who  are  about  to 
become  engineers.  It  was  not  so  long  ago  that  I  came  to  your  age  less 
well  prepared,  perhaps,  then  any  of  you.  When  I  look  back  at  the 
engineering  education  through  which  men  of  my  time  were  launched, 
and  then  consider  the  training  you  have  had  and  the  opportunities  be- 
fore you,  I  have  reason  to  wonder  why  I  am  here. 

I  hesitate  to  advise  you.  You  have  already  had  so  much  advice  that 
I  do  not  know  whether  you  can  hold  more.  What  I  can  say  in  a  few 
minutes  will  amount  to  little,  hence  let  me  use  these  minutes  to  suggest 
that  you  advise  yourselves  along  certain  lines  which  I  will  propose  by 
way  of  point  of  view.  If  you  look  straight  you  will  see  straight.  You 
cannot  think  wrong  and  act  right.  Your  perspective  will  be  distorted  if 
you  haven't  the  right  point  of  view. 

You  are  leaving  a  good  institution  for  a  good  world.  Your  Alma 
Mater  has  built  up  around  you  excellent  facilities  for  giving  you  what 
you  need,  and  other  institutions  have  likewise  cared  for  their  own. 

The  so-called  liberal  education  has  always  been  highly  academic. 
Trade  school  engineering  has  been  strictly  non-academic.  The  two 
have  joined  hands  fortuitously  in  our  modern  institutions.  The  liberal 
education  has  become  less  and  the  technical  more  academic,  with  ad- 
vantage to  both.  There  is,  however,  danger .  of  engineering  education 
growing  too  academic,  for  several  reasons :  One  is  the  disposition  to 
include  in  technical  training  a  liberal  education,  which  of  itself  is  not 
undesirable.  Another  is  that  engineering  professors  often  lean  unduly 
towards  academic  views  and  processes,  and  thus  lose  touch  with  the 
spirit  of  the  engineering  world.  Greater  than  either  of  these  is  the 
tendency  of  all  things  to  move  in  the  line  of  least  resistance;  and  all 
learning  which  depends  upon  the  intellect  alone  is  more  easily  acquired 
than  that  which  depends  upon  other  sources.  The  proof  of  this  need  go 
no  further  than  to  remember  that  no  literature  is  finer  than  that  written 
two  thousand  years  ago;  no  philosophy  has  fundamentally  improved 
upon  that  of  the  Ancients;  the  highest  flights  of  intellect  and  mathema- 
tics were  reached  during  the  ages  in  which  the  world  was  observed 
to  be  composed  of  four  elements — earth,  air,  fire,  and  water. 

301 


302  THE  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

A  review  of  knowledge  shows  the  great  preponderance  of  the  in- 
tellectual over  the  material,  and  it  is  only  within  late  centuries,  in  fact 
almost  the  past  century,  that  the  human  mind  has  seemed  capable  of 
turning  from  the  lesser  resistance  of  intellectual  attainment  to  the  greater 
capacity  for  physical  observation  and  comprehension.  We  have  but  re- 
cently came  to  the  era  of  intense  mental  operations,  dealing  with  laws 
and  principles  which  require  insight  greater  than  the  intellect  can  grasp 
unless  aided  by  the  senses.  Contrary,  therefore,  to  common  belief,  I 
assert  that  the  highest  refinement  of  knowledge  follows  from  the  highest 
use  of  the  senses ;  and  that  it  has  taken  thousands  of  years  of  pure  intel- 
lectual development  to  attain  a  state  in  which  the  powers  of  nature 
can,  through  the  human  intellect,  be  made  useful  to  mankind  and  add 
largely  to  knowledge.  Do  not,  therefore,  get  a  wrong  view  of  the 
faculties  involved  in  science,  in  the  application  of  the  laws  of  nature, 
applied  mechanics,  and  the  powers  of  comprehension  which  underlie  en- 
gineering. There  is  still  room  for  doubt — not  debatable  here — as  to  what 
constitutes  liberal  education. 

I  hope  for  the  time  when  the  spirit  of  engineering  as  found  in 
practice  will  form  a  more  definite  part  of  engineering  education.  This, 
I  think,  must  come  through  the  professor  keeping  in  close  practical 
touch  with  the  engineering  world.  There  are  various  ways  in  which  this 
may  be  accomplished,  but  I  know  of  none  better  than  by  each  professor 
doing  a  reasonable  amount  of  practical  work  for  commercial  purposes. 
Under  some  conditions,  this  may  be  consistently  accomplished  during  a 
portion  of  his  time,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  eventually  our  pro- 
fessors will  devote  all  their  time  to  instruction  while  they  teach  and  go 
periodically  into  the  world,  a  few  years  at  a  time,  for  practice.  Thus  the 
professorial  life  would  not  be  so  exclusively  educational,  and  our  grow- 
ing engineering  institutions  may  be  enabled  to  enlarge  their  faculties  by 
the  devotion  to  teaching  of  a  portion  of  the  time  of  men  who  are  primari- 
ly engaged  in  commercial  work. 

Now  that  you  have  your  so-called  education,  what  are  you  going  to 
do  with  it?  I  cannot  tell  you,  but  I  can  suggest  some  points  of  view. 

Begin  by  forgetting  yourself.  All  thought  of  self  is  some  form  of 
selfishness,  and  selfishness  never  produced  anything  better  than  more 
selfishness.  It  often  breeds  something  worse.  Genius  is  all  right 
in  its  way,  but  it  will  not  do  your  work.  Get  a  right  idea  of  work. 
Remember  that  time  is  the  essence  of  most  things,  and  is  not  inconsistent 
with  thoroughness. 

We  hear  much  about  opportunities.  They  are  everywhere  plentiful. 
Remember  that  your  opportunity  is  the  little  one  that  lies  squarely  in 
front  of  you,  not  the  large  one  which  you  hope  to  find  further  along. 


KERR.  303 

Many  a  man  is  surrounded  with  opportunities  who  never  seizes  one. 
There  are  traditions  that  Adam,  William  Tell,  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
each  had  an  affair  with  an  apple,  but  with  different  resujts. 

Your  first  duty  is  always  to  that  which  lies  across  your  path.  The 
only  step  which  you  can  take  in  advance  is  the  next  one.  This  leads 
to  a  simplicity  of  action  which  is  commendable.  Don't  ramble. 

The  refinement  of  thought  which  is  apt  to  follow  high  training  often 
leads  the  mind  to  overlook  simplicity  and  even  to  seek  complexity.  The 
wealth  of  modern  appliances  tends  likewise ;  and  it  is  thus  easy  to  acquire 
that  over-refinement,  often  termed  theoretical,  as  against  the  simplicity 
which  is  called  practical. 

From  one  point  of  view  all  graduates .  can  be  divided  into  two 
classes :  those  who  think  their  knowledge  is  a  little  long  for  their  op- 
portunities; and,  those  who  think  almost  anything  is  a  little  long  for 
their  knowledge.  Both  are  apt  to  think  that  the  knowledge  they  have 
acquired  will  become  the  essence  of  performance.  You  will  soon  find 
that  knowledge  hasn't  much  to  do  with  effectiveness.  It  is  necessary, 
only  as  words  are  essential  to  the  expression  of  thought.  You  will  find 
knowledge  a  good  tool,  but  not  the  vital  force  with  which  you  perform. 
You  will  fall  back  upon  human  effort  and  action,  and  find  that  it  is  the 
human-engine  and  not  the  knowledge-engine  that  does  the  work. 

Cultivate  singleness*  of  purpose.  This  is  more  important  than  you 
may  think.  It  is  intuitive  with  the  comparatively  ignorant,  and  often 
absent  in  the  highly  trained.  We  are  frequently  surprised  at  the  great 
competency  of  the  ignorant  contractor  or  foreman,  on  whom  judgment 
is  often  passed  by  saying  that  he  is  a  practical  man  and  gets  results. 
Analysis  will  show  that  his  best  quality  is  singleness  of  purpose,  which 
leads  him  to  do  vigorously  the  one  thing  before  him,  without  distrac- 
tion following  from  knowing  or  thinking  about  too  many  other  things. 
The  broadening  power  of  education  and  training  increases  the  range  of 
contemplation,  but  unless  the  power  of  concentration  is  cultivated,  there 
follows  a  tendency  to  scatter  instead  of  to  acquire  that  singleness  of 
purpose  which  leads  to  effective  action.  David  Starr  Jordan  has  said : 
"The  purpose  of  knowledge  is  action.  But  to  refuse  action  is  to  secure 
time  for  the  acquisition  of  more  knowledge.  It  is  written  in  the  very 
structure  of  the  brain  that  each  impression  of  the  senses  must  bring  with 
it  the  impulse  to  act.  To  resist  this  impulse  is  to  destroy  it.  * 
This  lack  of  balance  between  knowledge  and  achievement  is  the  main 
element  in  a  form  of  ineffectiveness  which,  with  various  others,  has 
been  uncritically  called  degeneration."  Thus  President  Jordan  shows 
how  even  much  more  than  a  little  knowledge  may  be  a  dangerous  thing. 
The  highly-trained  man,  therefore,  needs,  as  a  complement  to  his  train- 


304  THE  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

ing,  unusual  powers  of  concentration,  in  order  that  the  virtue  of  single- 
ness of  purpose  may  not  be  lost.  This  faculty  a  man  must  have  or  ac- 
quire himself.  It  is  not  in  the  books.  It  cannot  be  taught.  It  can  only 
be  suggested  by  precept  and  example. 

From  directness  of  purpose  naturally  follows  diligence  in  getting 
what  you  go  after,  and  not  being  easily  turned  aside  by  resistance.  When 
you  are  getting  what  you  go  after,  get  it  all.  Avoid  the  mediocrity  of 
compromise.  Be  thorough  and  stand  for  full  competency  in  everything, 
from  main  essentials  to  details.  Just  so  far  as  education,  assisted  by 
concentration,  contributes  to  singleness  of  purpose  it  is  useful,  but  where 
by  length,  breadth,  or  depth  it  dilutes  human  effort,  it  lacks  value.  It 
is,  therefore,  not  so  much  the  question  how  much  educational  training 
you  have  as  it  is  how  you  use  it.  Some  can  use  a  little  with  great  effect, 
because  their  point  of  view  is  right;  others  scatter  so  badly  that  they 
cannot  use  their  knowledge  at  all;  while  some  distorted  minds  seem 
to  have  a  faculty  for  misapplying  a  large  amount  of  acquired  knowledge 
through  complicated  processes  full  of  error.  To  be  right,  you  must  be 
100  per  cent,  right.  Charity  may  pardon  human  nature  its  percentage 
of  delinquency  but  this  is  a  human  matter.  The  laws  of  nature, 
mathematics,  and  engineering  do  not  pardon  anything.  The  man  may, 
therefore,  be  absolved  from  censure,  but  his  work  must  stand  the  rigid 
test  of  inviolable  law.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to  say  that  you  must  be 
right  the  first  time.  Much  of  our  engineering  is  only  done  once,  and 
it  must  be  done  right  that  once.  A  man  who  has  learned  by  experience 
to  do  a  thing  deserves  no  credit  for  doing  it  right.  He  is  then  only 
a  repeating  machine.  Real  power  is  characterized  by  ability  to  per- 
form right  the  first  time  that  which  a  man  never  did  before.  Such 
performance  involves  the  power  to  assimilate  and  adapt  experiences,  of 
more  or  less  like  or  unlike  kind,  in  a  way  to  bring  forth  correct  re- 
sults. This  is  the  true  use  of  experience,  wherein  a  man  is  a  thinking, 
active  power,  and  not  a  mere  repeater. 

Clearness  of  thought  is  an  essential  often  lacking.  This,  too,  fol- 
lows from  concentration  and  singleness  of  purpose.  Many  minds  con- 
fuse themselves  with  a  wealth  of  ideas,  grading  from  the  well  formed 
to  hazy,  indistinct  conceptions.  You  can  clear  your  mind  by  proper 
habits  of  thought.  Train  yourself  to  separate  essentials  and  non- 
essentials  and  confine  your  consideration  to  the  essentials,  to  dis- 
tinguish between  what  you  know  and  what  you  only  vaguely  surmise, 
clearly  eliminating  opinion  from  facts.  Nothing  is  more  helpful  than 
conference  with  yourself,  in  which  you  determine  what  you  think  of 
your  own  thoughts.  This  is  aided  by  the  moderate  cultivation  of  sys- 
tem— thinking  in  an  orderly  manner,  beginning  at  the  beginning,  end- 


KERR.  305 

ing  at  the  end,  and  being  sure  to  have  a  middle.  With  this  there  should 
be  no  slavery  to  system,  but  let  each  find  his  own  logical  way. 

Besides  what  are  commonly  known  as  ideas,  men  have  intuitions — 
sometimes  called  impressions  or  opinions — which  they  cannot  readily 
prove.  These,  I  believe,  are  identical  with  reason,  except  that  while 
reason  is  composed  of  a  sequence  of  distinct  ideas,  each  capable  of 
expression,  intuitions  follow  from  the  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to 
integrate  small  ideas  and  impressions,  each  of  which  is  too  small  to 
stand  alone,  or  to  be  readily  expressed,  but  which  integrated  form  a 
concrete  mental  impression,  called  an  intuition,  and  which  is  of  exactly 
the  same  character  as  reason,  except  that  it  is  composed  of  smaller  and 
almost  intangible  units.  Do  not,  therefore,  discard  intuitions  as  in- 
ferior to  reason.  Analysis  will  sometimes  develop  intuition  into  an  ex- 
pressible logical  thought. 

You  have  all  had  ideas  and  you  will  have  more  of  them.  Some 
ideas  seem  bigger  than  others.  These  mental  forces,  like  other  forces, 
only  do  work  when  in  motion.  Hence  your  ideas  are  only  valuable  when 
put  into  execution,  and  this  often  requires  more  talent  than  to  originate 
them.  Some  men  seem  to  consider  their  ideas  so  good  that  they  will 
execute  themselves. 

A  point  of  view  is  involved  in  the  power  to  rationalize.  This  again 
is  a  thing  which  each  man  does  for  himself  in  his  own  best  way,  and 
its  essence  consists  in  asking  one's  self  whether  the  thing  is  reasonable. 
It  is  a  great  check  upon  error.  It  applies  equally  to  nearly  everything 
of  which  engineering  is  composed.  It  is  the  power  of  the  human  mind, 
after  performing  in  more  or  less  systematic  and  conventional  ways,  to 
stand  off  and  look  at  results  and  ask  one's  self  whether  they  are  reason- 
able. One  man  will  figure  that  certain  material  weighs  two  hundred 
tons,  and  believe  it.  Another  will  say  that  there  is  something  wrong 
in  that,  for  it  all  came  on  two  cars. 

Every  young  man  comes  sooner  or  later  upon  a  dilemma,  in  which 
he  is  more  or  less  drawn  in  opposite  directions  by  his  confidence  on  the 
one  hand  and  timidity  on  the  other ;  a  desire  to  perform  backed  by  the 
courage  of  his  convictions,  but  on  the  other  hand  resisted  by  his  in- 
ability to  see  his  way  through  in  orderly  progression  to  a  desired  end. 
This  is  about  the  time  to  show  your  nerve.  Don't  be  dazed  and  baffled, 
but  make  a  start.  Use  your  wits  and  you  will  get  somewhere,  and  if 
you  cannot  always  see  the  end  it  will  constantly  get  nearer  and  plainer 
when  you  go  as  far  as  you  can  see  and  then  see  how  far  you  can  go. 

Another  point  of  view  concerns  engineering  expression.  This  may 
be  through  designs,  drawings,  mathematical  determinations,  or  words, 
and  finally  by  work  done.  The  lamest  of  these  is  words.  All  engineer- 


306  THE  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

ing  is  so  non-literary  in  character  that  the  use  of  language  is  too  much 
neglected,  leading  to  expressions  that  do  not  properly  convey  thought. 
In  engineering,  it  is  not  rhetoric  but  diction  that  makes  expression 
clear,  and  diction  is  best  learned  from  the  dictionary.  It  is  well  for  a 
young  engineer  to  cultivate  his  vocabulary,  and  learn  to  use  words  in 
their  right  sense.  They  are  then  usually  understood,  even  by  those 
who  have  less  knowledge.  A  word  of  caution,  however,  against  assum- 
ing that  a  lack  of  facility  of  expression  can  cloak  an  absence  of  know- 
ing what  you  think.  Engineering  documents,  specifications,  and  letters 
are  full  of  mis-statements  due  to  the  careless  use  of  language.  Con- 
ciseness cannot  be  over-estimated.  Brevity  is  desirable,  but  not  at  the 
expense  of  clearness.  Conversely,  a  certain  degree  of  facility  should 
be  acquired  in  reading  the  words  of  others.  Some  seem  incapable  of 
understanding  plain  language  when  spoken  or  written.  Anyone  per- 
sistently failing  to  understand  the  language  of  others  has  limitations 
needing  correction. 

One  of  the  worst  attributes  in  engineering,  and  which  is  funda- 
mentally born  of  conceit,  is  the  tendency  to  fasten  error,  censure,  and 
responsibility  on  others.  There  are  times  when  a  man  needs  to  stand 
himself  up  in  front  of  himself  .and  ask:  What  is  the  matter  with  me? 
The  capacity  of  any  man  to  admit  his  own  error  and  frailty  of  judg- 
ment is  a  measure  of  strength  rather  than  weakness. 

Perhaps  no  personal  attributes  are  of  greater  importance  in  the 
conduct  of  the  business  affairs  of  an  engineering  life  than  good  cheer 
and  non-contentiousness — not  only  because  these  are  right  and  agree- 
able, but  because  they  enable  a  man  to  work  better  and  to  be  better 
understood,  and  because  they  add  weight  to  his  opinions.  There  is  a 
certain  reasonable  optimism  of  manner  which  makes  a  man  and  his 
ideas  welcome,  even  though  they  must  of  necessity  sometimes  be  criti- 
cal. To  vote  aye  and  believe  that  things  can  be  done  makes  a  man 
helpful  to  others  and  to  enterprises.  Discontent  is  not  a  sign  of  pro- 
gression. 

Each  of  you  probably  has  a  preconceived  notion  of  following  some 
line  of  engineering.  Be  careful  about  your  self-analysis.  The  field 
is  large  and  has  room  for  all  of  the  various  types  of  men,  some  of 
whom  incline  to  constructive  operations,  others  toward  inventive,  some 
to  the  contemplative.  Again,  within  all  these  divisions,  some  tend  to- 
ward professional  and  others  toward  trade  work.  No  one  can  ad- 
vise what  is  best  for  you.  This  you  must  find  out  for  yourself.  .1 
cannot  help,  however,  a  certain  predilection  in  favor  of  a  young  man 
being  just  an  engineer,  and  not  any  particular  kind  of  an  engineer — 
not  specializing  while  too  young,  but  developing  along  versatile  lines, 


KERR.  307 

ready  to  turn  his  hand  equally  well  to  any  task  within  his  general 
scope.  In  this,  there  is  a  good  deal  in  the  point  of  view,  and  the  man 
who  believes  he  can  apply  himself  in  one  direction  about  as  well  as 
another  will  come  nearer  doing  it  than  one  who  thinks  he  cannot. 

When  you  start  your  practical  work,  you  will  doubtless  try  to 
improve  things.  That  is  a  legitimate  purpose,  if  not  overworked.  I 
am  not  going  to 'attempt  to  tell  you  what  needs  improvement,  but  the 
one  improvement  that  most  things  need  is  in  the  line  of  sufficiency. 
You  can  think  this  over  for  yourself  and  apply  it  where  it  fits. 

There  is  another  point  of  view  seldom  considered.  It  relates  to 
environment  and  the  power  to  vary.  It  is  pertinent  to  engineering. 
Man  ascended  through  and  exists  under  the  laws  of  an  organic  evolu-i 
tion,  which  occurred  almost  entirely  in  early  geological  ages,  under 
water,  within  a  few  miles  of  shore,  under  substantially  constant  tem- 
perature, constant  pressure,  and  uniform  food  supply,  and  thus  in  aboiit 
the  simplest  possible  environment.  It  was  caused,  primarily,  through 
the  force  known  as  the  power  to  vary;  and  the  reason  that  evolution 
spanned  the  space  from  the  simple  cell  to  the  vertebrate  animal  in  so 
short  a  time  was  that  this  power  was  not  resisted  by  complex  environ- 
ment. When  organisms  emerged  from  the  water  to  the  more  complex 
environment  of  the  land,  and  as  environment  grew  constantly  more 
intricate,  its  resistance  retarded  evolution  and  resulted  in  fixation  of 
species  until  ordinal  evolution  practically  ceased.  It  is  the  complexity 
of  the  environment  of  the  world  that  presses  upon  you  and  tries  to  hold 
you  back  from  the  exercise  of  your  native  power  to  vary.  A  good 
environment  is  certainly  less  harmfully  resistant  than  a  bad  one,  but 
remember  that  environment  is  not  a  force.  It  is  not  a  producer.  You 
are  the  producer.  Whatever  your  power  to  vary,  environment  will  only 
resist  and  reduce  it. 

Therefore,  remember  that  all  the  good  you  accomplish  is  going  to 
come  out  of  yourself.  You  cannot  borrow  it,  and  you  cannot  make  it 
out  of  that  which  has  been  poured  into  you  by  education  or  otherwise. 
All  that  you  receive  is  only  a  certain  quantity  of  knowledge,  acquired  by 
education,  experience,  or  other  training,  which  will  have  a  certain  in- 
fluence upon  what  comes  out  of  yourself  as  your  own.  It  is  the  in- 
herent capacity  to  perform  with  your  own  brain  which  will  make  you 
what  you  become,  and  not  the  mere  transmission  of  that  which  you 
have  acquired.  Your  knowledge,  therefore,  is  of  little  avail  until  you 
make  it  inherently  a  part  of  yourself  through  mental  assimilation  and 
utilization.  The  clearer  you  comprehend  these  things,  the  more  readily 
you  can  make  use  of  them  as  against  the  process  of  mere  acquirement 
with  a  vague  motive  that  in  some  way  or  other  what  you  acquire  may 


308  THE  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

be  of  benefit  or  that  environment  will  be  the  force  that  makes  your 
talent  effective.  Some  have  gone  through  experience  without  acquir- 
ing it ;  and  many  a  man  who  has  received  an  education  has  not  got  any, 
because  he  allowed  it  to  be  a  thing  apart  from  his  personality — and  it 
slipped  away. 


KNOWLEDGE  AND  ACTION. 

By 
Walter  C.  Kerr,  M.  E. 

This  address  was  delivered  on  June  8,  1906,  to  the  graduating  class 
of  Staten  Island  Academy.  It  gives  in  very  condensed  form  much 
sensible  advice  to  young  men,  'and  is  conspicuous  for  the  wisdom  of 
the  author's  statements,  reasoning,  and  conclusions.  His  utterances 
are  well  worthy  the  attention  of  every  thinking  man,  young  or  old, 
technical  or  non-technical. 

Editors. 


309 


KNOWLEDGE  AND  ACTION. 

By 
Walter  C.  Kerr,  M.  E. 

Some  days  come  so  seldom  that  they  become  occasions  of  special 
mark.  The  day  of  graduation  is  one.  It  sometimes  seems  as  if  young 
people  come  to  halls  of  learning  with  little,  and  in  a  few  years  take 
away  much.  This  is  not  quite  what  happens.  You  come  with  much 
or  little  as-  the  case  may  be  and  you  take  away  just  what  you  brought, 
except  for  the  pruning,  training,  and  straightening  out  which  your 
natural  possessions  have  undergone  by  the  process  known  as  education. 
Meanwhile,  you  have  acquired  some  facts  and  these  are,  of  course, 
an  added  measure  to  what  you  formerly  had.  Many  of  these  you  will 
unfortunately  forget,  but  do  not  think  that  they  have  not  done  you 
good  while  they  stayed  with  you,  nor  that  their  effect  is  measured  only 
by  their  endurance. 

The  only  objection  I  have  to  commencements,  whether  of  academies 
or  colleges,  is  the  intimation  that  they  are  the  end  of  education  and 
the  beginning  of  the  world.  Education  is  a  continuous  performance, 
the  first  acts  of  which  are  within  halls  where  systematic  guiding  gives 
direction  and  method  to  personal  endeavor.  One  reason  why  many 
who  have  had  much  schooling  are  poorly  educated  is  that  they  stopped 
learning,  and  by  a  strange  anomaly  they  seemed  to  stop  at  commence- 
ment. 

The  education  you  get  through  books  and  teachers  is  elementary. 
That  which  you  gain  yourself  may  be  profound.  Profoundity  is  wholly 
a  matter  of  quality,  not  quantity.  The  world  is  too  full  of  a  number  of 
things,  and  you  will  find  more  tendency  to  scatter  than  to  concentrate. 
It  is,  therefore,  well  to  do  whatever  you  do  with  all  your  might  and 
regard  nothing  as  too  small  to  be  done  the  best  you  know  how.  Clever- 
ness will  not  accomplish  much.  Brilliancy  only  serves  permanently  to 
polish  good  things  and  temporarily  to  polish  bad  ones.  Grace  and 
culture  lend  charm  to  anything,  but  none  of  these  things  make  for 
progress.  Advancement  only  comes  through  good  hard  work,  diligent 
application,  faithful  performance,  correctness,  accuracy,  and  that  fine 
display  of  judgment  which  flows  only  from  a  well  ordered  mind,  capable 
of  thinking  independently,  acting  resolutely,  and  fearing  nothing. 

311 


312  KNOWLEDGE  AND  ACTION. 

At  this  commencement  time  it  is  well  to  commence  to  forget  the 
standards  set  by  the  completion  of  printed  pages  and  the  measure  fixed 
by  examinations.  The  world's  problems  do  not  come  systematically  and 
in  the  preferred  order  of  easy  ones  first,  followed  by  a  gradation  of  the 
most  difficult.  They  come  by  chance  and  they  hit  you  endwise,  side- 
ways, and  with  all  degrees  of  percussion.  You  must  meet  them,  solve 
them,  get  good  out  of  them,  and  utilize  them  as  the  means  to  further 
achievement. 

Some  persons  devote  much  time  to  passing  opinions  stating  what 
they  think.  It  does  not  make  much  difference  what  you  think  about 
things.  It  is  what  you  do  about  them.  There  is  even  danger  of  think- 
ing too  much  unless  thought  is  intuitively  coupled  with  action.  Your 
thoughts  may  sometimes  wander  harmlessly,  but  your  acts  need  be  right 
all  the  time.  If  you  can  now  begin  with  the  elementary  education  you 
have  received  in  a  good  academy,  or  even. the  more  extended  but  still 
elementary  education  which  some  of  you  will  receive  in  college,  you 
can  proceed  to  make  your  personality  effective  in  doing  those  things 
which  your  natural  tendencies  lead  you  to  do  best.  You  will  then,  in 
the  course  of  perhaps  twenty  or  more  years,  become  fairly  educated  as 
measured  by  the  standard  of  human  performance  related  to  the  average 
span  of  life. 

Humanity  is  composed  of  all  kinds  of  people  possessing  widely 
different  temperaments,  tastes,  and  abilities.  It  is  well  they  are  not 
all  alike.  Anyone  will  achieve  the  greatest  effectiveness  through  the 
opportunities  and  training  which  develop  native  powers.  Any  other 
training  is  liable  to  stunt  the  natural  growth.  Variation  in  progressive 
development  should  be  in  the  direction  in  which  one  tends  to  vary. 
This  assists  in  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  the  survival  of  the  unlike,  the 
survival  of  the  effective. 

Manifestly  there  must  be  as  many  kinds  of  education  as  there  are 
types  of  people,  and  fortunately  the  number  is  not  so  great  but  that 
they  can  be  readily  supplied  at  least  within  our  higher  institutions.  So 
long  as  education  was  confined  to  one  channel,  those  whom  the  channel 
precisely  .fitted  were  greatly  benefited ;  those  whom  the  channel  some- 
what fitted  were  somewhat  benefited;  those  to  whom  the  channel  was 
a  misfit  were  injured,  because  during  the  formative  period  of  their  de- 
velopment their  native  power  to  vary  was  resisted,  their  minds  forced 
away  from  their  natural  trend,  and  energies  which  could  have  been 
potent  for  good  in  certain  directions  were  dwarfed  by  the  compulsory 
exertion  of  uninteresting,  unproductive  effort.  This  results  in  a  kind 
of  mediocrity  which  is  stagnation.  You  can't  make  anything  good  of  a 


KERR.  313 

man  except  to  make  him  better  in  that  which  he  is.     You  can't  unmake 
him  and  make  him  over  again. 

If  it  be  held  that  one  must  needs  have  the  so-called  -liberal  educa- 
tion in  order  to  be  well  rounded,  it  is  pertinent  first,  to  determine  wheth- 
er roundness  is  what  is  really  wanted  and  the  fitness  of  the  subject  to 
the  end:  We  don't  build  walls  of  round  stones.  We  hew  them  square 
—some  are  better  rough  hewn  and  others  are  better  when  polished. 
It  is  not  well  to  attempt  to  take  all  the  corners  off  humanity.  They 
should  be  left  on  to  dent  something. 

When  it  is  observed  that  in  our  modern  universities  which  offer 
to  students  wide  ranges  of  educational  courses,  less  than  one-quarter 
follow  classical  pursuits  when  left  to  free  choice,  and  that  over  three- 
quarters  elect  professional  and  industrial  education,  there  is  good  reason 
to  believe  that  this  is  about  the  proportion  in  which  minds  are  fitted  to 
receive  benefit  from  the  acquirement  of  the  respective  classes  of  knowl- 
edge and  training.  I,  therefore,  maintain  that  instead  of  decadence 
in  the  humanities  they  are  elevated  by  this  natural  selection,  because 
their  representatives  become  only  those  whose  minds  are  fitted  to  take 
such  education  and  who  will,  therefore,  conspicuously  represent  the  best 
possibilities  of  classical  training  applied  to  those  to  whom  it  is  adapted. 

In  addition  to  the  several  agreeable  and  desirable  attributes  of 
classical  training,  its  fundamental  benefit  comes  through  the  melting 
down  and  recasting  of  thought,  which  to  some  minds  is  a  stimulating 
and  cultivating  process.  There  are  other  processes  of  like  kind  and 
quality  that  are  adapted  to  other  minds,  notably  the  melting  down  of 
the  laws  of  nature  and  recasting  them  as  applied  science.  Another 
cultivating  and  most  useful  process,  too  little  practiced,  is  the  melting 
down  of  one's  own  thoughts  and  so  recasting  them  that  they  can  be 
understood. 

We  have  heard  too  much  about  knowledge  for  its  own  sake  versus 
knowledge  for  use.  All  knowledge  is  for  use.  All  education  is  for 
action.  The  engineer  uses  mechanics  and  thermo-dynamics  in  a  certain 
direct  way.  The  architect  uses  art  and  constructive  knowledge  in  a 
similar  way.  The  lawyer  uses  his  knowledge  in  a  less  material  way. 
The  classical  or  philosophical  man  uses  his  acquirements  in  a  different 
way,  but  if  he  does  not  use  them  they  are  useless.  The  older  I  grow 
the  more  I  think  there  is  no  such  thing  as  liberal  education,  liberal  arts, 
or  liberal  anything,  as  distinct  from  specialized  departments  of  knowl- 
edge. As  to  the  so-called  specialized  courses,  these  are  only  names. 
They  are  no  more  special  than  the  humanities.  Some  are  scarcely  so 
highly  specialized.  All  education  is  liberal  or  all  is  technical,  accord- 
ing to  our  definitions,  but  all  is  for  use. 


314  KNOWLEDGE  AND  ACTION. 

We  hear  too  much  about  standards.  They  are  all  right  in  their 
way,  if  they  do  not  tend  to  crystallize  error.  What  we  want  are  best 
methods.  They  can  never  become  quite  fixed,  but  must  always  be 
getting  better  in  order  to  be  the  best.  They  must  be  effective  and 
efficient  rather  than  old  or  new.  Precedent  has  no  inherent  merit. 
Only  merit  has  merit.  Times,  conditions,  and  arts  change  so  rapidly 
that  the  presumption  is  against  rather  than  for  the  older  methods. 

One  must  have  the  reserve  power  to  do  more  than  conventional 
duties,  to  double  or  treble  the  pace  when  necessary;  but  there  should 
be  no  wasting  of  energy  by  trying  to  do  it  all  the  time.  In  large 
organizations,  men  of  fair  attainments  but  who  have  shown  no  surplus 
capacity  are  dropped  to  make  room  for  others  who  may  be  more  avail- 
able in  time  of  emergency. 

There  are  many  who  would  rather  rest  on  an  excuse  than  find  a 
way.  Too  many  find  reasons  for  not  doing  things.  As  Grant  once  said 
regarding  the  first  requisite  of  a  general,  he  must  love  to  fight,  be- 
cause there  are  always  as  many  reasons  for  not  fighting  as  for  fight- 
ing, and  one  must  fight  to  win.  So  you  must  prefer  to  do  things  and 
not  be  content  with  reasons  why  you  can't. 

To  youth  this  old  world  is  always  a  new  country.  Pioneers  must 
plunge  in:  turn  over  what  to  them  is  new  soil,  and  make  of  it  the  best 
they  can,  always  in  the  spirit  of  industry  and  honesty,  with  that  aspira- 
tion for  betterment  which  invariably  turns  for  good  that  which  is  worthy 
and  turns  to  naught  that  which  is  undesirable.  Thus  you  plunge,  step, 
or  wander  into  a  new  world;  and  the  impetus  with  which  you  enter  it 
is  a  factor  in  the  vis  viva  with  which  you  will  carry  through.  Repose 
has  its  virtues,  but  you  will  always  find  it  easier  to  slow  down  than  to 
speed  up. 

One-half  of  all  human  performance  is  composed  of  perception, 
and  the  other  half  is  acting  upon  what  you  perceive,  Never  mind  the 
formula.  Go  straight  for  what  you  see  and  you  will  always  find  your 
duty  right  in  front  of  you.  '  Stay  by  it  until  it  is  done.  Do  it  simply 
and  you  will  do  it  easily  and  well.  Never  mind  your  knowledge.  It 
isn't  your  power.  It  is  only  a  tool  and  it.  is  inert.  You  are  the  power, 
and  if  you  don't  exert  yourself  and  assert  yourself  you  can't  wield 
anything.  Your  own  human  effort  is  the  only  thing  which  will  appeal 
to  and  move  others,  and  it  is  only  when  you  move  others  that  you  move 
anything.  Don't  be  impersonal,  but  be  yourself  with  all  the  fire  that 
nature  gave  you,  and  don't  be  afraid  to  be  yourself — your  best  self — 
and  let  the  world  judge  as  it  may.  You  are  never  so,  much  yourself 
as  when  you  forget  yourself,  and  you  are  then  unselfish. 


KERR.  315 

All  things  are  more  or  less  hard  to  do.  and  work  only  will  do 
them.  Get  a  right  idea  of  work.  Don't  trust  to  cleverness.  It  is 
worthy,  but  it  will  not  do  your  work.  Accomplishment  demands  single- 
ness of  purpose  and  concentration.  All  exterior  forces  tend  to  diver- 
sion from  these  essentials.  Here  you  come  in  again  to  show  your 
triumph  of  personality  over  environment.  No  matter  what  you  do, 
from  the  humblest  incidental  thing  of  the  moment  to  the  consummation 
of  your  greatest  ambition,  the  same  principles  of  human  activity  apply. 
All  will  be  clear  sailing  until  you  meet  resistance  and  sometimes  you 
will  run  against  it  hard.  Then  you  will  find  whether  you  have  nerve 
or  nerves.  No  one  can  help  you  much.  Your  measure  is  being  taken 
and  you  win  or  lose  upon  the  cumulative  ability  which  you  can  muster 
as  the  total  assemblage  of  native  talent  and  all  that  has  become  a  part 
of  you  through  all  the  influences  that  ever  entered  your  life.  See  to 
it  that  they  all  shape  one  way.  You  will  meet  some  disappointments 
through  your  own  faults  and  some  because  the  world  is  not  exactly 
just,  but  whoever  gets  approximate  justice  in  the  world  is  doing  very 
well.  The  perfectionist  has  a  hard  time.  He  meets  continual  disap- 
pointment, especially  if  he  is  chiefly  worried  about  the  imperfections 
of  others. 

The  nearest  you  will  ever  get  to  perfection  is  when  you  get  out  of 
your  powers  all  that  there  is  in  them.  You  will  find  them  stronger  the 
less  you  dilute  them  with  borrowed  force.  The  good  you  accomplish 
must  be  a  part  of  yourself,  and  whatever  you  may  receive  by  way  of 
knowledge,  experience,  and  training  must  be  assimilated  until  it  is  a 
part  of  your  own  living  being  before  it  can  be  made  productive.  The 
capacity  to  perform  is  essentially  a  human  creative  function  and  not  an 
act  of  transmission  of  what  you  may  have  acquired. 

You  are  going  to  breast  a  gale,  of  advancing  and  ever  changing 
arts,  with  all  their  complexities,  anomalies,  and  uncertainties,  where 
"nothing  there  is  can  pause  or  stay."  Thus  duty  is  made  harder  to  per- 
form than  if  you  lived  in  the  quiet  conventionality  of  a  less  enterpris- 
ing land.  Difficulties  and  their  overcoming  bring  opportunities,  and 
who  would  ask  for  ease  at  the  price  of  stagnation?  I  believe  it  was 
Tacitus  who  created  a  solitude  and  called  it  peace.  However  powerful 
and  individual  you  make  your  personality  it  must  in  general  conform 
to  the  well  determined  laws  of  effective  human  procedure.  Freaks 
never  win.  You  may  more  or  less  follow  the  systematized  results  of 
practice,  but  you  must  obey  the  laws  of  purpose,  of  motive,  of  integrity, 
of  unselfishness,,  of  diligence,  faithfulness,  and  fidelity  to  trust.  Trans- 
gression of  these  will  be  punished,  while  decadent  variation  will  only 
produce  an  imitation  of  the  real  thing,  and  all  imitations  are  bad. 


316  KNOWLEDGE  AND  ACTION. 

I  assume  that  those  to  whom  I  am  talking  are  capable  of  being 
many  times  as  good  and  effective  as  they  are  now.  Effectiveness  gets 
fairly  weighed  and  compensated,  financially  or  otherwise,  by  the  world's 
scales.  You  will  never  be  paid  for  what  you  are  going  to  do,  and  you 
will  be  only  partially  compensated  for  what  you  have  done.  There  must 
be  a  profit  in  everything,  and  therefore  ability  to  perform  must  be 
bought  at  one  price  and  sold  for  another.  With  growth  compensation 
will  grow,  and  no  small  part  of  growth  is  the  ability  to  rise  and  do  the 
things  that  need  be  done,  no  matter  what  they  are;  to  rise  from  sel- 
fishness to  unselfishness,  from  smallness  to  greatness,  and  from  anything 
to  competency. 

There  is  a  wrong  notion  in  the  world  as  to  the  sequence  of  some 
things.  You  must  first  perform  and  re-perform  and  prove  that  yon 
can  perform  and  keep  it  up  before  you  will  get  credit  for  performing. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  people  in  the  world  cannot  do  certain  things 
because  they  have  never  tried,  and  many  have  thought  they  could  not 
because  they  did  not  do  very  well  the  first  time  they  tried.  There  is 
nothing  pertaining  to  your  general  conduct  in  the  world  that  you  can't 
do.  People  become  what  their  motives  lead  to.  Consciously  or  un- 
consciously your  motives  make  you,  and  your  practice  will  follow  from 
what  you  have  thus  been  made.  The  personal  shaping  of  one's  self 
along  lines  however  worthy  cannot  be  accomplished  through  initial  in- 
tent alone.  It  requires  a  burden  upon  the  mind,  a  mission  in  the  heart 
and  a  continuous  motive  in  life's  work. 

If  these  things  be  good,  then  they  are  good  to  contemplate,  but 
contemplation  of  itself  avails  nothing.  If  you  ever  expect  to  get  any- 
where you  must  move  on.  It  is  not  always  necessary  to  step  lively, 
but  keep  moving.  There  is  a  tendency  in  human  nature  to  expect  to 
find  a  stopping  place.  The  spirit  of  moving  on  is  the  spirit  of  pro- 
gression; the  spirit  of  optimistic  dissatisfaction.  It  is  necessary  to 
cultivate  restlessness  in  order  to  have  a  moving  spirit.  The  fault  and 
the  fate  of  the  rolling  stone  is  not  so  much  because  it  rolls  as  it  is  that 
it  usually  rolls  down  hill.  When  you  move  be  sure  of  your  direction. 

Progress  should  mean  something.  It  should  mean  real  advance- 
ment in  thought,  habit,  and  action — perceptible  to  one's  self  and  to 
others.  This  moving  on  may  be  adapted  in  one  form  or  another  to 
suit  different  temperaments.  To  some  it  should  mean  moving  onward 
within  few  and  perhaps  limited  lines.  To  others  the  onward  move- 
ment will  involve  the  constant  taking  up  of  new  and  broad  lines  of 
effort.  To  many  it  is  refreshing  as  they  progress  from  one  period  of 
life  to  another  to  awaken  new  interests,  to  have  new  ambitions,  new 
fields  to  conquer.  While  to  some  the  activity  of  this  added  effort  might 


KERR.  317 

seem  too  strenuous,  there  is  little  doubt  that  to  others  it  is  an  enrich- 
ing process  which  by  recreative  and  interesting  variation  revives  and 
stimulates  mind  and  body  to  a  condition  of  existence  in  which  they  last 
longer  than  if  allowed  to  go  to  seed. 

The  least  duty  of  everyone  is  to  make  the  world  just  a  little  better. 
This  can't  be  done  by  merely  approving  and  imitating  what  others  have 
done.  You  will  never  do  it  looking  backward.  Ambition  seeks  new 
seas  to  sail. 

No  one  should  dare  to  prejudge  what  any  person  may  do,  and  to 
everyone  is  open  all  the  possibilities  of  all  that  has  not  yet  been  per- 
formed. The  lessons  of  the  beaten  paths  are  yours  for  the  pains  of 
acquirements.  The  inspiration  of  the  successful  achievement  of  others 
is  yours  for  the  heed.  The  opportunities  of  the  future  belong  to  yon 
for  the  seizing.  All  things  are  always  possible  and  your  aspirations 
should  ask 

"Is  the  day  of  our  hope  not  near — when  we 

"Will  seek  for  the  truth  and  find 
"That  the  soul's  best  gifts  are  lost  in  the  waste 

"Of  a  backward  looking  mind? 
"Shall  we  make  new  paths  where  none  are  made, 

"Shall  we  strive  and  at  last  prevail, 
"And  at   some   time   build   our   ship,   please   God — 

"Where  there  are  new  seas  to  sail?" 


THE  NEXT  STEP. 

By 
Walter  C.  Kerr,  M.  E. 

This  address  of  Mr.  Kerr's  gives  much  sensible  advice  to  young 
men  about  to  start  on  the  practice  of  their  profession  and  tells  them 
something  of  what  to  do  and  what  not  to  do,  guiding  them  in  the  right 
direction  and  pointing  out  the  stumbling  blocks  and  pitfalls  that  lie 
in  their  path.  Few  papers  concentrate  as  much  solid  advice  and  valu- 
able precepts  in  such  a  small  a  space  as  does  this  one.  To  appreciate 
it  thoroughly  one  should  read  it  several  times  in  order  to  impress  its 
many  wise  suggestions  deeply  upon  his  memory. 

Editors. 


319 


THE  NEXT  STEP. 

By 
Walter  C/Kerr,  M.  E. 

This  is  an  important  day  to  nineteen  of  those  whom  I  am  address- 
ing, and  it  is  just  as  important  as  any  other  day  to  the  rest  of  us. 
Perhaps  the  most  important  moments  in  our  lives  are  those  in  which 
we  resolve  to  do  something,  and  the  importance  is  made  permanent 
when  action  follows  the  intent. 

I  am  not  going  to  say  much  about  education  .  You  have  perhaps 
heard  as  much  about  that  as  is  good  for  you,  and  I  have  no  doubt  you 
have  received  some,  even  much.  In  a  way,  I  am  interested  in  educa- 
tion, but  I  have  more  interest  in  those  who  receive  it. 

Educators  and  institutions  are  seeking  the  ideal  education,  and 
they  will  find  it  when  they  find  ideal  men,  collected  in  ideal  groups, 
and  doing  everything  in  an  ideal  way. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  some  methods  are  better  than  others, 
and  some  facilities  excel  others,  but  after  all  the  best  thing  for  any 
man  is  that  which  fits  him  best.  Men  differ  through  so  wide  a  range 
that  about  the  best  approximation  to  high  excellence  is  the  presence 
of  large  opportunity,  facility,  and  the  personality  of  many  men.  With 
these  factors  related  by  force  of  gravity,  attraction,  cohesion,  friction,  and 
other  physical  and  mental  phenomena  each  person  gets  that  which  best 
fits  him  and  sticks  the  closest  to  him. 

Therefore  in  a  certain  way  the  ideal  education  is  the  education 
you  get,  and  from  a  certain  set  of  conditions  one  man  gets  one  kind 
and  another  man  another.  In  these  relationships,  apparently  similar 
causes  do  not  necessarily  produce  similar  effects,  and  the  effects  dif- 
ferentiate largely  along  the  line  of  the  characteristics  of  the  receiving* 
body. 

Each  of  you,  therefore,  operated  upon  by  similar  forces  during  the 
past  few  years,  has  acquired  a  different  kind  of  education.  This  is  not 
so  apparent  now,  amidst  the  levelling  tendencies  of  the  conventionalities 
by  which  you  are  all  brought  to  a  certain  stage  at  a  certain  age,  sur- 
rounded by  the  same  conditions,  and  therefore  apparently  all  more  or 
less  alike. 

321 


322  THE  NEXT  STEP. 

This  day,  however,  marks  your  individual  departure  from  condi- 
tions common  to  you  all,  and  five  years  will  find  you  translated  along 
many  different  radii.  Ten  years  will  find  you  far  apart. 

Up  to  this  time,  some  one  else  has  done  the  directing.  Hereafter, 
you  will  direct  yourselves.  Perhaps,  under  certain  terms  and  condi- 
tions of  employment,  you  will  think  some  one  else  is  directing  you  in 
a  rather  firm  way,  but  after  all  you  will  find  that  you  are  directing  your 
own  destiny,  and  the  apparent  direction  of  others  is  but  the  incidental 
utilization  of  your  best  proclivities  and  a  desirable  restraint  of  your 
worst  ones. 

About  the  first  practical  thing  you  will  now  do  is  to  enter  em- 
ployment, and  practically  the  next  thing  you  will  do  will  be  uncon- 
sciously to  create  an  impression  of  what  you  are  good  for.  That  im- 
pression will  be  best  made  if  you  will  attend  strictly  to  what  you  are 
given  to  do.  Do  it  faithfully,  cheerfully,  and  to  your  best  ability,  with- 
out trying  to  create  an  impression.  We  all  know  there  is  something 
about  a  boy  that  will  make  him  climb  a  tree  faster  when  the  girls  are 
looking  on  than  when  they  are  not,  and  the  momentary  stimulation  of 
ambition  is  likely  to  produce  a  fall.  When  you  start  out  into  the  world, 
don't  get  excited  and  overdo,  nor  feel  that  all  eyes  are  upon  you.  No 
one  is  looking  very  hard,  nor  caring  much.  So  just  take  care  of  the  job 
you  are  on,  and  consider  that  it  is  the  only  thing  eyeing  you. 

Those  who  have  had  large  experience  in  dealing  with  engineering 
graduates  have  found  them  a  pretty  good  lot.  They  ought  to  be. 
Any  man  who  is  not  has  something  the  matter  with  him.  Whatever 
he  has  by  the  grace  of  nature,  with  the  addition  of  what  he  has  ac- 
quired by  way  of  fact  and  instruction,  coupled  with  the  training  which 
this  has  given  him,  ought  to  make  him  capable  to  an  acceptable  degree, 
even  if  his  experience  has  not  yet  so  rounded  his  judgment  and  tem- 
pered his  acts  as  to  render  him  proficient. 

The  employer  expects  of  the  young  man,  fresh  from  his  technical 
education,  ability  to  understand,  capacity  to  think,  the  possession  of 
ordinary  facts  regarding  ordinary  things,  logical  procedure  in  his  acts, 
faithfulness  in  performance,  accuracy  in  observation,  and  general  in- 
telligence. He  does  not  expect  ripe  judgment,  practical  knowledge  of 
technical  procedure,  trained  commercial  astuteness,  nor  does  he  expect 
broad  perception  of  the  myriad  of  things  more  or  less  correlated  with 
those  on  which  he  directly  serves.  These  latter  attributes  follow  from 
experience,  and  they  will  surely  follow  if  the  former  attributes  are  pos- 
sessed and  practiced. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  specify  those  qualities  which  most  quickly 
lead  a  young  man  to  rise  from  the  lower  position  he  first  fills  to  the 


KERR.  323 

next  and  the  next  until  he  becomes  a  valued  assistant  and  on  the  high 
road  to  leadership,  but  there  is  no  one  thing  which  so  marks  a  young 
man  in  any  organization  as  to  be  wanted.  Young  graduates  enter 
manufacturing  establishments,  engineering  offices,  or  construction  corps, 
— starting  evenly  in  the  race.  Soon  it  develops  that  here  and  there  is  a 
man  who  seems  to  be  wanted  by  every  department.  It  would  be  dif- 
ficult for  those  who  want  him  to  define  exactly  why.  The  man  is  as 
yet  too  young  and  his  characteristics  are  too  unformed  to  warrant  any 
firm  determination  of  his  ability,  but  in  some  way  or  other  he  is  wanted, 
and  opportunity  follows  want,  whether  long  felt  or  shortly  realized, 
Cheerfulness  in  all  things  is  not  the  least  of  the  factors  that  enter  into 
"being  wanted." 

When  a  man  steps  up  because  he  is  wanted,  he  must  "make  good," 
because  this  early  and  only  half-formed  choice  is  not  firm  enough  to 
stand  unless  warranted  by  performance.  The  burden,  therefore,  upon 
the  man  who  is  chosen  is  far  greater  than  upon  him  who  is  not. 
Through  his  ability,  diligence,  perception,  and  capacity  to  render  his 
potential  possibilities  in  the  form  of  practical  service,  he  will  find  the 
rising  steps  always  in  front  of  him  and  will  need  spend  no  part  of  his 
energy  to  find  them. 

As  he  proceeds  further  on  his  way,  he  may  feel  that  he  is  doing 
much  and  doing  it  well,  and  this  is  about  the  time  that  self-centered 
youth  forgets  that  after  all  it  is  only  assisting.  Some  one  else  is  carry- 
ing the  responsibility.  Some  one  else  is  the  leader,  and  the  effort  of 
the  young  man  has  not  yet  been  called  to  its  greatest  obligation,  be- 
cause as  yet  there  has  not  fallen  upon  it  the  burden  of  final  responsi- 
bility. 

The  day  you  get  your  first  serious  responsibility  will  be  a  far  more 
important  day  even  than  this,  because  that  is  the  day  you  will  either 
carry  the  load  or  not.  No  one  can  help  you  much  in  preparing  for  it. 
This  is  something  you  must  do  for  yourself.  When  the  time  comes 
that  you  take  the  burden,  no  Herculean  effort  of  the  moment  will  make 
you  capable  of  sustaining  it.  All  that  you  have  ever  done,  are  doing 
now,  or  are  going  to  do  up  to  that  day  will  or  will  not  prepare  you 
for  it,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  the  ability  to  carry  responsibility  is  the 
whole  test  of  leadership.  It  is  not  knowledge,  skill,  brilliancy,  nor  even 
genius  that  makes  a  man  a  leader,  but  only  the  power  to  carry  re- 
sponsibility successfully. 

This  requires  a  series  of  attributes  beginning  with  proper  self- 
confidence  and  ending  with  wisdom.  Somewhere  in  the  line  will  be 
found  courage,  firmness,  honesty,  and  everything  that  composes  high 


324  THE  NEXT  STEP. 

character.  Each  man  must,  therefore,  cultivate  that  which  is  within 
himself  and  make  of  it  the  most  to  this  end. 

You  are  going  out  into  the  world  at  a  time  in  which  many  things 
differ  from  their  previous  condition.  One  of  the  most  important  is  that 
within  recent  years  the  whole  civilized  world  has  turned  from  the 
struggle  for  existence  to  the  adaptation  of  the  world's  needs  to  the 
available  men  to  fill  them.  It  is  the  passing  from  the  ages  of  insuf- 
ficiency to  a  period  of  surplus. 

Orginally  in  the  struggle  for  existence  men  fought  for  food.  The 
race  multiplied  while  the  material  and  facilities  for  its  subsistence  lag- 
ged. When  any  tribe  or  nation  succeeded  in  getting  a  little  more  than 
it  needed,  some  other  nation  or  tribe  attempted  to  take  some  part  away 
from  it.  The  effort  of  the  -individual  and  the  welfare  of  the  nation 
were  practically  a  struggle  for  existence.  The  development,  however, 
of  civilization,  the  arts,  and  the  sciences  has  produced  a  rich  world. 
The  land  more  than  supports  the  people.  The  industries  give  employ- 
ment to  all  who  are  willing  to  work,  and  at  a  good  wage.  Broadly 
speaking,  poverty  is  unknown.  Individually,  it  only  exists  as  a  pitiful 
extreme  of  incompetence.  The  world  is  affluent.  Farmers  are  pros- 
perous. Science  has  unearthed  mineral  wealth.  Manufacturers  are 
industrious.  Enterprise  is  almost  rampant.  Everywhere  the  world  is 
calling  for  men  to  do  things,  and  it  is  willing  to  pay  well  for  capacity. 
It  is  the  age  of  surplus,  in  which  the  farmer  and  the  artisan  have  bank 
accounts  and  a  few,  even  many,  are  rich.  Men  are  not  seeking  work, 
but  work  on  every  hand  is  seeking  men.  This  condition  is  so  very  re- 
cent that  it  is  perhaps  not  fully  realized,  but  it  has  come  with  the 
present  generation,  and  will  have  an  influence  and  a  favorable  one  on 
all  rnen  now  beginning  their  world's  work. 

Meanwhile  transportation  and  all  that  attends  it  has  increased  the 
radius  of  individual  action,  and  therefore  of  personal  opportunity.  A 
man  can  now  pass  from  one  grade  of  employment  in  a  given  locality 
to  a  higher  grade  in  another  locality  of  a  land  three  thousand  miles 
broad  quite  as  easily  as  in  the  early  days  he  could  make  the  change  from 
one  neighboring  city  to  another. 

Conditions  of  life  too  are  more  fixed,  and  change  of  location,  even 
of  occupation,  involve  less  of  risk,  hardship,  or  of  social,  physical,  or 
mental  disturbance  than  heretofore.  All  conditions  have,  therefore, 
grown  more  favorable  for  every  man,  with  opportunity  increasing  in 
geometrical  ratio  as  related  to  the  abilities  of  different  men.  The 
premium  on  marked  ability  has,  therefore,  increased,  while  the  reward 
for  capacity  has  become  more  assured.  With  this,  the  standards  of 
performance  rise  as  responsibilities  grow  greater;  but  to  meet  this  the 


KERR.  325 

facilities  enabling  the  man  to  make  the  most  of  his  potential  ability  at 
an  early  age,  proportionally  increase. 

You  are,  therefore,  going  out  to  a  well  formed  world,  in  which  more 
has  been  done  to  prepare  it  for  the  exercise  of  your  ability  than  you 
have  done  in  the  cultivation  of  your  own  talent.  I  do  not  mean  by  this 
that  all  of  the  roads  have  been  straightened  and  the  ways  paved.  The 
world  is  still  humpy  and  bumpy,  and  you  will  find  it  hard  in  spots. 
Human  nature  remains  unchanged.  You  will  meet  the  resistance  of 
men  and  the  imperfections  of  material  in  this  age  the  same  as  in  any 
other.  You  must  be  strong — not  only  strong  enough  to  meet  the  en- 
countered resistance,  but  so  much  stronger  as  to  meet  it  easily  and 
carry  a  surplus  inertia. 

It  is  easy  to  see  beyond  the  point  of  good  vision.  There  are  condi- 
tions under  which  it  is  wise  to  be  long  headed,  but  it  is  also  easy  to 
overlook  many  things  close  to  one's  eye,  which  are  the  essence  of  what 
should  be  perceived.  There  is  always  a  bit  of  added  grandeur  to  that 
which  comes  from  a  distance.  The  man  of  high  estate  from  a  distant 
country  seems  more  elevated  than  the  one  we  know  near  home.  The 
expert  from  afar  seems  more  expert  than  the  man  we  know  too  well. 
It  is  trite  to  remark  that  "Familiarity  breeds  contempt,"  but  it  is  too 
often  forgotten  that  "Distance  lends  enchantment." 

There  is  something  about  effectiveness  which  has  to  do  with  grasp- 
ing things  which  are  within  reach  and  using  them,  and  not  speculating 
on  something  that  is  beyond  grasp.  The  possible  benefits  which  can 
arise  through  unattainable  conditions  are  of  no  value.  Power  is  the 
quick  adaptation  of  things  at  hand  to  needed  ends.  Therefore  vision 
must  not  be  too  long.  See  the  things  that  are  near  and  see  them  right. 
See  their  possibilities  and  recognize  their  limitations.  Act  with  refer- 
ence to  them,  use  them,  and  keep  the  horizon  within  practical  working 
range.  This  for  action,  but  as  a  matter  of  mental  gymnastics,  as  an 
expanding  function,  as  a  matter  of  mind  training,  it  is  well  to  use  the 
imagination  to  reach  out  to  any  length  and  to  what  may  lie  beyond. 
Then,  before  action,  draw  in  the  lines  to  the  radius  of  action  which 
can  be  made  practically  effective. 

Much  has  been  said  from  time  to  time  about  the  inferiority  of 
knowledge  gained  piecemeal  as  against  its  acquirement  in  substantial 
masses.  The  former  is  liable  to  be  superficial  and  incorrect;  the  latter 
profound  and  competent. 

The  scattering  of  knowledge  into  little  bits  covering  a  wide  ran^c 
is  catered  to  by  many  forms  of  literature,  whether  general  or  specific, 
which  finish  a  subject  almost  before  it  is  begun. 


326  THE  NEXT  STEP. 

This  tends  to  the  scattering  of  brain  effort,  the  'splitting  rather 
than  the  cementing  of  intelligence,  and  to  the  fickleness  of  flitting  from 
thought  to  thought  and  motive  to  motive  in  a  manner  leaving  no  fixed 
imprint  on  the  mind  thus  operating.  It  gives  also,  little  more  than  the 
appearance  of  a  brilliant  film  or  veneer  of  learning  to  those  who  view 
its  results.  It  encourages  suffusion  and  dilution  instead  of  concentra- 
tion. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  concentration  required  to  hold  to  one  sub- 
ject, and  to  acquire  one  class  of  knowledge  through  a  considerable 
period  of  time  and  carry  it  over  a  broad  area  in  which  the  units  of  sur- 
face are  of  somewhat  like  kind,  tends  to  profound  acquirement.  In 
quantity,  enough  is  gained  to  be  useful,  and  in  quality  it  is  dense  enough 
to  have  substance. 

All  this  in  a  certain  way  has  a  bearing  upon  creative  work,  and  it 
is  creative  work  only  that  makes  the  world  move  on. 

There  is  no  merit  in  breadth  obtained  at  the  expense  of  depth. 
All  mental  effort,  acquirement,  and  knowledge  need  the  strength,  con- 
stancy, and  power  which  come  only  by  dealing  with  large  masses 
through  reasonable  periods  of  time.  This  to  some  extent  accounts  for 
the  power  manifested  in  some  men  who  have  studied  little,  but  what 
they  know  is  theirs  and  theirs  for  use,  as  against  others  who  have  scat- 
tered over  so  broad  a  range  that  they  have  a  little  of  much,  not  much  of 
anything,  and  nothing  for  use.  The  old  maxim  of  "Do  a  little  and  do 
it  well"  may  be  improved  into  "Do  much  and  do  it  well." 

Science  and  'engineering  cannot  be  picked  up  from  popular  expres- 
sions or  the  rambling  through  attractive  descriptions  of  novelties,  but 
only  from  the  study  of  the  fundamental  principles.  Therefore  read 
books.  Study  principles,  not  novelties.  Think  theory  and  work  prac- 
tice. Turn  to  real  sources,  not  to  the  tricks  of  words  and  platitudes 
which  so  often  catch  one's  fancy,  and  in  a  superficial  way  lead  to  no- 
tions rather  than  to  logic. 

There  is  something  in  the  very  system  of  education  that  constrains 
one  to  think  that  everything  must  be  done  systematically.  It  is  hard  to 
say  anything  disparaging  of  so  good  a  thing  as  system.  It  surely  has 
its  place.  It  has  merit.  It  should  be  cultivated.  But  again,  it  has  faults. 
It  has  the  strange  anomaly  of  being  both  natural  and  unnatural.  It  is 
natural  because  all  nature  grows  systematically,  evolves  systematically, 
and  all  profound  things  move  more  or  less  systematically.  Neverthe- 
less, much  is  encountered  that  seems  to  know  no  law,  and  chaos  is 
not  always  best  met  with  system.  Many  things  from  warfare  to  com- 
merce show  that  system  vigorously  and  profoundly  applied  will  win 
against  force  used  indiscriminately,  but,  whatever  of  such  truth  may  be 


KERR.  327 

derived  from  generalization,  one  should  not  lose  sight  of  the  plain  con- 
crete fact  that  a  refinement  of  system  does  not  always  best  fit  practical 
conditions  as  they  exist.  Such  conditions  often  demand  going  straight 
at  the  obvious  mark  regardless  of  system. 

It  may  be*  observed  that  system  is  cultivating,  and  it  is,  there- 
fore, well  to  cultivate  system,— but  with  it  cultivate  the  capacity  to 
break  through  it  temporarily,  effectively,  and  for  good  cause. 

To  succeed,  you  must  above  all  things  be  what  the  world  calls 
practical.  The  practical  man  is  the  one  who  understands  the  things 
about  him. 

Foresight  is  the  carrying  beyond  present  view  the  knowledge  of 
things  within  view.  It  is  the  practical  man  who  displays  foresight 
and  thus  is  called  wise,  or  prudent,  because  through  the  knowledge  of 
things  about  him  he  can  extend  his  judgment  to  those  beyond. 

Knowledge  in  the  form  of  learning  is  inferior  to  knowledge  in 
the  form  of  discernment,  because  it  is  less  effective.  The  former 
may  be  admired,  but  the  latter  is  followed. 

The  boy  who  "wants  to  know"  is  the  right  kind.  Get  next  to 
everything  next  to  you.  You  can't  successfully  deal  with  large 
things  far  removed  unless  you  understand  the  small  ones  near  by. 

The  practical  man  thinks  quantitatively  and  qualitatively,  while 
the  impractical  man  thinks  qualitatively  only. 

The  failure  to  recognize  quantitative  analysis  in  mental  action  is 
responsible  for  many  misconceptions,  poor  judgments,  and  worse  acts. 

Too  many  men  allow  their  minds  to  form  judgments  on  a  quali- 
tative basis  only,  so  neglecting  the  quantitative  as  to  reach  wholly 
wrong  conclusions.  The  question  of  many  things  is  not  whether,  but 
how  much.  To  realize  that  one  thing  is  better  than  another  is  of 
little  importance  unless  one  determines  how  much  better  it  is.  The 
value  of  the  fact  that  one  cost  is  greater  than  another  is  measured 
wholly  by  how  much  it  is  greater.  Perspective  is  a  relation  between 
size  and  apparent  size.  The  effective  man  has  an  ever  present  sense  of 
proportion.  The  dreamer  does  not  so  relate  things  to  each  other  as  to 
make  their  ratios  real.  The  habit  of  quantitative  analysis  and  the 
attaching  of  quantitative  values  is  of  even  more  importance  than  a 
general  idea  of  qualitative  relationship. 

Express  yourselves.  There  must  be  an  impulse  to  expresssion. 
Follow  it  without  fear.  Thinking  twice  may  be  overdone.  Think 
right  once  and  act.  The  impulse  to  act  on  every  point  of  knowledge 
is  inspiring — even  if  conditions  restrain  action.  It  is  the  desire  to  act 
that  causes  activity,  and  nothing  but  action  can  produce  results. 


328  THE  NEXT  STEP. 

As  a  last  short  word,  I  ask  you  to  be  individual.  Base  your  in- 
dividuality on  correct  knowledge  of  fundamental  principles.  Make 
them  your  own  and  not  merely  things  that  were  told  to  you  or  what 
you  may  have  read  about  in  books.  Make  them  your  own  so  firmly 
that  you  understand  them  with  the  fullness  of  your,  own  nature.  I 
not  only  mean  the  natural  laws  of  physics,  chemistry,  and  economics, 
but  the  laws  of  right  and  wrong,  the  principles  of  equity  and  inequity, 
the  comprehension  of  the  essence  of  things  as  distinct  from  the  inci- 
dents; a  realization  of  commercialism  and  its  ever  constant  relation 
to  the  effective  application  of  all  laws ;  a  clear  perception  of  facts, 
and  ability  to  use  the  five  senses  as  well  as  the  one  brain. 

Never  mind  conventionalities  except  so  far  as  they  are  good  when 
measured  in  terms  of  higher  laws  than  set  forms.  At  least  one-hall 
of  all  conventional  methods  in  the  performance  of  the  technical  arts 
consists  of  the  persistence  of  inferior  methods  utilized  only  because 
retained  through  precedent. 

Above  all,  be  courageous,  consistent,  considerate,  and  cheerful 
in  order  that  your  talents  and  the  best  attributes  of  your  nature  mav 
have  fair  play  in  a  world  that  wants  your  service  so  long  as  you  render 
it  in  the  right  spirit. 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS. 
By 

Dr.  Julian  Kennedy. 

This  address  was  delivered  on  June  3,  1909,  to  the  graduating 
class  of  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology,  and  was  repeated  a  week 
later  to  the  graduating  class  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College.  Dr. 
Kennedy  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  America's  numerous  me- 
chanical engineers,  his  specialty  being  connected  with  the  manufacture 
of  steel.  Everywhere,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  blast  furnaces,  steel 
works,  gas  producer  plants,  rolling  mills,  slab  mills,  plate  mills,  tube 
mills,  power  plants,  railway  bridges,  sugar  mills,  hydraulic  dredges 
and  tall  buildings  bear  evidence  of  his  rare  constructive  skill. 

In  consequence  of  his  wide  experience,  extending  over  a  period  of 
thirty-six  years,  his  advice  to  young  men  about  to  start  in  the  practice 
of  engineering  ought  to  prove  of  immense  value.  Anyone  following 
it  is  certain  to  obtain  great  benefit,  and  it  may  prove  the  means  of  his 
attaining  professional  success. 

Editors. 


329 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRES3. 

By 
Dr.  Julian  Kennedy. 


Assuming  that  the  majority  of  you  will  follow  engineering  pursuits, 
it  may  not  be  amiss  to  mention  some  things  which  you  will  have  to  deal 
with  in  your  future  work.  It  is  entirely  unnecessary  for  me  to  remind 
you  that  most  of  you  are  not  at  the  present  time  engineers.  Those 
of  you  who  have  properly  utilized  your  opportunities  have  received  a 
splendid  mental  training,  together  with  some  knowledge  of  engineering, 
which  equips  you  to  go  on  and  acquire  the  vast  amount  of  practical 
knowledge  necessary  to  the  engineer.  You  will  soon  find  that  many 
kinds  of  knowledge  which  you  have  perhaps  considered  useless,  are 
important  and  essential  in  your  professional  work.  It  is  a  mistake 
made  by  most  students,  and  I  have  no  doubt  many  of  you  have  made 
it,  to  think  that  the  Faculty  of  the  school  has  introduced  too  many 
general  studies  into  the  course  instead  of  giving  all,  or  nearly  all,  of 
the  time  to  purely  technical  studies  and  practical  work  closely  related 
to  engineering.  To  those  of  you  who  have  had  this  feeling,  I  would 
only  say  that  your  views  will  change  as  you  go  on  and  in  ten  years 
from  now  you  will  think  more  of  the  judgment  of  the  Faculty  in  these 
matters  than  you  do  at  present.  There  is  no  doubt  that  your  instructors 
could  map  out  a  course  which  would  turn  out  graduates  who  would 
be  able  to  start  in  practical  work  with  much  more  ease  and  readiness 
than  you  can,  in  fact  any  boy  who  had  spent  the  four  years  you  have, 
spent  here,  in  the  field  or  drawing  room  learning  practical  engineer- 
ing, would,  other  things  being  equal,  be  able  to  do  routine  work  in 
an  engineering  office  much  better  than  you  could  do  it,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  a  very  few  years  you  should  be  far  ahead  of  him.  In  other 
words,  your  instructors  have  been  wise  to  give  you  a  broad  and  liberal 
training,  and  to  forego  teaching  you  some  of  those  things  which  would 
come  nearest  to  making  engineers  of  you  at  the  time  you  finish  your 
course  in  order  to  give  you  more  of  the  broad  and  fundamental  princi- 
ples, the  mastery  of  which  will  enable  you  in  a  reasonable  time  to 
become  much  abler  and  more  valuable  engineers  than  if  your  training 
here  had  aimed  to  teach  you  the  maximum  amount  of  that  kind  of 
technical  information  which  is  supposed  to  be  most  immediately  useful 

331 


332  COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS. 

to  the  young  graduate.  It  is  much  better  for  you  to  have  a  broad,  liberal 
education  and  a  little  engineering  knowledge  when  you  leave  here 
than  to  have  a  much  greater  amount  of  practical  and  technical  knowl- 
edge without  a  liberal  education.  In  your  future  work  you  will  learn 
that  it  is  much  easier  to  find  among  technical  graduates  good  designers 
of  machinery  or  fine  mathematicians  than  it  is  to  find  those  who  can 
write  a  satisfactory  contract  or  even  a  good  business  letter. 

At  some  stage  of  your  career  some  of  you  at  least  will  be  called 
upon  to  purchase  large  amounts  of  machinery  and  materials,  when  yon 
will  find  that  the  ability  to  write  a  contract  from  which  not  one  word 
can  be  omitted  and  of  which  not  one  sentence  can  be  construed  in  more 
than  one  way,  will  be  of  more  value  to  you  than  even  a  knowledge  of 
the  method  of  least  squares,  which  some  of  you  may  perchance  have 
forgotten  by  that  time.  Not  only  will  your  opinion  of  the  judgment 
of  the  Faculty  change,  but  your  general  impressions  of  them  will  also 
be  radically  revised.  In  my  student  days  there  was  a  song,  the  refrain 
of  which  was,  "There'll  be  no  Faculty  there,"  but  after  graduating 
you  will  begin  to  appreciate  the  Faculty  and  year  by  year  this  appre- 
ciation will  grow  stronger  until  you  will  finally  arrive  at  a  somewhat 
adequate  idea  of  what  you  owe  to  them  and  to  realize  that  not  to 
its  buildings,  not  to  its  endowment,  not  to  its  alumni  does  your  insti- 
tute owe  its  greatness,  but  more  than  to  all  of  these  combined  to 
that  noble,  earnest,  unselfish,  self-sacrificing  band  of  men,  its  Faculty, 
and  as  the  years  roll  round  you  will  appreciate  how  many  of  them 
have  given  up  the  chance  of  much  greater  material  reward  in  other 
lines  of  work  in  order  to  do  the  more  important  work  of  fitting  you 
to  be  an  honor  to  your  school  and  a  benefit  to  the  world,  and  at  the  end 
of  a  quarter  of  a  century  those  of  you  who  are  living  will  be  amazed 
at  the  interest  taken  in  you  one  and  all  by  the  Faculty,  who,  like  a 
mother,  never  forget  their  boys  and  grieve  over  their  misfortunes  and 
glory  in  their  success. 

Speaking  of  mothers  brings  to  mind  mothers-in-law.  Like  college 
faculties,  they  are  often  the  subjects  of  jokes,  but  if  you  will  observe 
carefully  and  accept  the  verdict  of  those  who  have  had  experience,  you 
will  learn  that  one  of  the  truest  and  best  friends  a  man  has  in  this 
world  is  apt  to  be  his  mother-in-law.  In  this  connection  I  may  say 
that  one  of  the  things  most  essential  to  his  success,  which  a  young  en- 
gineer should  do  not  too  late  in  his  career,  is  to  acquire  a  mother-in- 
law. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  engineers  purchasing  materials  and  making 
contracts,  which  leads  to  the  thought  that  a  large  part  of  engineer- 
ing is  commercial,  and  that  commercial  considerations  must  be  given 


KENNEDY.  333 

weight  in  all  engineering  work.  We  are  sometimes  inclined  to  forego 
these  and  strive  to  produce  something  ideal,  without  reference  to  the 
question  of  whether  it  will  be  profitable  or  not.  The  man  who  puts  in 
an  elaborately  designed  machine  to  displace  two  laborers  in  a  plant 
and  finds  that  instead  of  them  he  has  one  skilled  man  operating  the 
machine  and  two  high-priced  machinists  keeping  it  in  repair,  may  be 
a  genius  and  a  skilled  mechanician,  but  he  is  not  accomplishing  what  is 
generally  wanted.  You  will  be  surprised  when  you  get  into  actual 
work  to  find  how  often  commercial  conditions  are  ignored  by  engineers, 
and  not  by  engineers  only.  It  may  be  your  experience  at  some  time  to 
work  hard  for  weeks  at  the  urgent  demanS  of  a  board  of  directors  to 
try  to  reduce  the  cost  of  labor  in  a  plant  by  five  or  ten  cents  per  ton  of 
product,  and  you  may  spend  many  thousand  dollars  to  accomplish  this, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  output  of  the  works  is  being  sold  year  in 
and  year  out  at  a  dollar  or  two  a  ton  below  the  price  it  ought  to  bring. 
You  will  find  also  in  many  cases  that  costly  machines  are  installed  to 
effect  savings  which  are  offset  many  times  over  by  the  interest  on  the 
cost  of  the  machinery  and  its  maintenance.  You  will  also  find  installed 
elaborate  and  intricate  machinery  to  effect  the  highest  ultimate  saving, 
which  because  of  the  complication  becomes  unreliable  and  subject  to 
breakage,  and  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  in  how  many  cases  an 
hour's  stoppage  of  a  machine  which  forms  part  of  a  large  and  highly 
organized  plant  will  cause  a  loss  of  more  money  than  would  be  saved 
in  a  year  by  this  highly  efficient  machine  as  compared  with  a  less  effi- 
cient but  thoroughly  reliable  one.  The  larger  and  more  complicated 
a  plant  is  and  the  more  highly  organized  the  sequence  of  operations 
carried  on  in  it,  the  more  important  it  is  that  all  machinery  in  it  should 
first  of  all  be  as  reliable  as  it  can  be  made.  It  should,  therefore,  be  your 
aim  to  acquire  as  rapidly  as  possible,  in  addition  to  your  mechanical 
ability,  good  commercial  judgment  and  a  wide  experience,  enabling  you 
to  judge  which  of  several  different  paths  is  apt  to  lead  to  commercial 
success.  In  purchasing  materials  the  engineer  often  has  to  act  as  the 
agent  of  his  clients  as  well  as  a  referee  between  them  and  the  seller. 
It  is,  of  course,  his  duty  to  get  materials  as  cheaply  as  possible,  but 
he  should  never  forget  that  he  ought  to  be  absolutely  fair  to  both  par- 
ties, and  the  engineer  who  maintains  this  attitude  will  in  the  long  run 
best  serve  the  interests  of  his  clients  as  well  as  his  own.  In  doing 
business  he  should  remember  that  nine-tenths  of  the  litigation  in  this 
world  is  caused  by  vague  or  incomplete  understandings  between  buyer 
and  seller,  and  he  should  exercise  great  care  to  see  that  everything  con- 
nected with  the  specifications  and  contract  is  so  fully  and  clearly  ex- 
pressed that  there  can  be  no  misunderstanding  regarding  them,  and  he 


334  COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS. 

will  find  that  to  do  this  is  by  no  means  an  easy  or  simple  undertaking. 

In  starting  out  as  engineers,  you  should  all  bear  in  mind  that  you 
are  largely  dependent  upon  others.  The  field  of  engineering  is  so 
vast  that  no  one  can  cover  a  very  large  part  of  it,  and  no  one  can 
accomplish  much  unless  he  has  the  faculty  of  availing  himself  of  the 
work  and  knowledge  of  others.  The  man  who  makes  one  of  the  great- 
est failures  in  the  mechanical  world  is  he  who  spends  his  life  inventing 
complicated  machines,  only  to  find  that  others  had  invented  them 
years  before.  In  many  lines  of  work  it  is  just  as  important  to  know 
what  has  already  been  done  as  it  is  to  possess  great  ability  to  originate 
new  designs,  and  as  between'  the  man  who  is  an  expert  special  designer 
in  any  department  of  engineering  and  the  one  who  has  the  faculty  of 
utilizing  the  work  of  many  other  men  in  many  departments,  the  latter 
will  be  the  more  valuable  man,  will  be  more  sought  after,  and  will  rise 
higher  in  his  profession.  In  other  words,  it  is  not  so  much  what  a 
man  can  do  himself  as  what  he  can  get  others  to  do  that  makes  him 
valuable  in  carrying  on  large  undertakings. 

In  your  work  as  engineers  you  will  be  called  upon  to  make  reports 
on  properties,  processes,  etc.  You  will,  of  course,  in  such  cases  be 
sure  that  you  understand  the  subject,  after  which  it  will  be  wise  for 
you  to  write  your  report  so  as  to  say  in  it  all  you  desire  to  say  and 
write  it  on  the  theory  that  anyone  may  read  it.  You  may  be  asked 
sometimes  to  vary  the  wording  of  your  report  on  the  ground  that 
it  is  not  to  be  published,  but  only  shown  to  A  or  B.  In  such  cases  you 
will  be  wise  to  make  no  changes  which  you  would  not  want  read  and 
criticised  by  anyone,  and  to  bear  in  mind  also  that  the  funds  of  widows 
and  orphans  may  be  invested  in  enterprises  on  the  strength  of  your 
report.  Your  written  report,  should,  of  course,  be  complete  in  itself, 
and  should  not  need  to  be  supplemented  by  oral  explanations,  and  it 
should  be  so  concise  and  clear  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  anyone 
warping  or  distorting  the  meaning  of  it.  While  most  business  men 
Want  straight,  honest  reports,  there  is  quite  a  respectable  (as  to  num- 
bers) minority  who  will  try  to  have  you  warp  the  truth  just  a  little,  and 
who  are  very  plausible  and  specious  in  the  way  they  go  about  it.  In  work  of 
this  kind  you  will  find  that  commercial  knowledge  and  good  judgment  play 
a  very  large  part,  and  you  will  possibly  learn  that  expert  accountants r 
like  many  other  kinds  of  expert  specialists,  are  very  narrow  in  their 
views  and  more  or  less  feeble  in  grasping  broad  principles.  To  be 
successful  in  this  line  of  work  it  is  necessary  that  you  should  acquire 
a  great  deal  of  general  information  in  connection  with  accounts,  con- 
struction of  plants,  and  their  operation.  You  will  also  find  many  thing.? 
in  works  which  cannot  be  seen,  and  for  your  information  in  regard  to- 


KENNEDY.  335 

them  you  will  be  dependent  upon  other  people,  and  your  success  in 
getting  accurate  information  will  depend  largely  upon  your  judgment 
of  men,  your  tact  and  ability  to  elicit  correct  information  from  them. 
Owing  to  the  large  number  of  things  which  have  to  be  examined  some- 
times in  a  very  short  space  of  time,  it  will  be  necessary  for  you  to 
acquire  a  faculty  of  seeing  things  quickly  and  accurately,  as  well  as  of 
judging  of  their  conditions  and  their  methods  of  operation.  This  is  a 
faculty  which  varies  greatly  in  different  men,  but  one  which  can  be 
cultivated  to  a  marvelous  extent. 

You  have  doubtless  seen  men  who  could  walk  through  a  factory 
and  come  out  with  a  wonderful  amount  of  information  regarding  the 
workings  of  a  large  number  of  intricate  machines,  whereas  another  man 
may  have  passed  through  at  the  same  time  and  not  seen  a  hundredth 
part  as  much  of  the  actual  inwardness  of  the  mechanism.  In  making 
reports  in  regard  to  works  or  plants,  you  should  be  as  concise  and 
clear  in  your  descriptions  as  possible,  bearing  in  mind  that  bankers 
and  financial  men  generally  are  apt  to  place  upon  a  report  a  value  in 
inverse  proportion  to  its  length.  I  remember  seeing  a  report  on  a  large 
plant  containing  some  miles  of  railroad  trestle,  which  gave  in  exact 
detail  the  size  of  every  sill,  every  post,  cap,  corbel,  and  stringer  in  the 
entire  works,  the  list  occupying  a  good  many  pages  of  legal  cap; 
and  the  entire  trestle  was  rotten  to  an  extent  that  it  was  not  even 
fit  for  firewood,  and  the  only  thing  that  was  really  necessary  to  know 
about  it  was  the  expense  of  pulling  it  down  and  hauling  it  away.  The 
man  who  made  this  report  was  probably  a  very  painstaking  engineer, 
but  lacked  something  in  his  makeup. 

You  will  in  your  future  work,  doubtless,  be  called  on  to  testify 
as  experts  in  the  courts  in  cases  involving  mechanical  considerations 
and  patents.  There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  criticism  of  the  system 
of  having  experts  on  each  side  of  a  case,  and  many  have  recommended 
that  the  court  should  engage  its  own  expert,  but  all  things  consid- 
ered, I  have  no  doubt  that  a  fuller,  broader,  and  fairer  knowledge  is 
gained  by  the  court  if  it  listens  to  two  experts  each  putting  forward 
the  strong  arguments  for  his  own  side  of  the  case,  than  if  only  one 
expert  is  heard,  as  he  is  liable  not  to  see  all  sides  of  the  question,  and 
may,  with  the. best  intentions  in  the  world,  give  a  very  incomplete  and 
erroneous  opinion  on  the  technical  points  of  the  case.  This  is  less  likely 
to  happen  where  each  expert  sets  forth  his  own  side  of  the  matter, 
and  is  cross-examined  by  the  other  side.  Should  you  have  occasion 
to  act  as  an  expert  in  this  line  you  should  first  of  all  be  sure  that 
you  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject;  in  other  words,  that 
vou  are  a  real  expert  in  it.  Next  you  should  endeavor  to  be  entirely 


336  COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS. 

fair  in  your  testimony.  It  is  not  expected  that  you  should  volunteer 
aid  or  assistance  to  the  other  side,  but  you  should  answer  all  ques- 
tions fully  and  fairly,  and,  above  all,  you  should  be  absolutely  honest 
in  regard  to  your  opinions.  As  a  general  rule,  it  is  wise  not  to  enter 
a  case  unless  a  preliminary  study  of  it  convinces  you  that  you  can  be 
of  service  to  your  client,  and  at  the  same  time  adhere  strictly  to  your 
honest  opinions  throughout.  You  will  find  it  essential  in  this  kind  of 
work  to  be  patient,  to  have  absolute  control  of  your  temper,  and  to 
meet  the  most  insulting  and  irritating  cross-examination  with  un- 
ruffled composure  and  with  retorts  courteous.  Where  the  facts  are 
against  your  side,  you  should  not  try  to  dodge  the  issue,  but  remember 
that  frank  admissions  of  those  things  which  plainly  favor  the  opposi- 
tion in  most  cases  help  your  side  more  than  they  hurt  it.  Remember 
always  that  although  it  may  be  impossible  to  prove  that  a  statement 
of  an  opinion  is  not  truthful,  yet  an  experienced  judge  in  reading  the 
testimony  will  almost  infallibly  detect  any  tendency  to  untruthful- 
ness  or  unfairness  in  a  witness. 

In  your  engineering  work  you  will  possibly  have  to  direct  large 
bodies  of  men,  and  here  you  will  need  judgment,  tact,  and  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  together  with  firmness  and  decision  and  a  spirit 
of  fairness.  In  addition  to  handling  men  successfully,  you  should  make 
it  a  rule  to  learn  from  them,  and  you  will  be  surprised  at  the  great 
amount  of  information  you  can  gather  in  this  way,  especially  among 
mechanics.  Twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  there  was,  among  the  so-called 
practical  mechanical  men  of  this  country,  a  good  deal  of  contempt  for 
the  technical  graduate.  This  feeling  has  to  a  large  extent  ceased  to 
exist,  but  on  the  other  hand  I  fear  there  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of 
the  technically  trained  men  at  the  present  time  greatly  to  underestimate 
the  value  of  the  knowledge  of  the  first-class  mechanic  acquired  by  long 
practical  experience.  Many  engineers  would  rise  much  higher  in  their 
profession  if  they  had  the  faculty  of  absorbing  useful  knowledge  from 
the  working  mechanics,  many  of  whom  have  wonderful  ability  and 
can  give  most  valuable  information.  In  a  still  wider  sense  engineers 
can  get  a  great  deal  of  information  from  their  brother  engineers,  and 
team  work  is  just  as  essential  in  carrying  on  engineering  work  as  it 
is  in  winning  a  game  of  football.  As  you  can  obtain  a  large  amount 
of  aid  from  other  engineers,  so  it  should  be  your  duty  and  your  pleasure 
to  impart  information  to  your  engineering  brethren,  especially  to  the 
younger  members  of  the  guild.  Make  friends  among  men  of  high 
standing  and  greater  experience  than  your  own  and  hold  them.  Always 
see  a  desirable  position  ahead  of  you,  and  strive  to  be  prepared  for  it 
mentally  and  physically.  Remember  that  often  a  strong  constitution 


KENNEDY.  337 

and  vigorous  brain  will  cause  you  to  win  where  others  have  failed.  Bear 
in  mind  that  booze  and  business  do  not  mix,  and  that  the  demand  for 
sober,  steady  men  grows  stronger.  In  men  as  in  machinery  what  is 
most  wanted  is  reliability.  In  all  things  so  shape  your  actions  that  if 
failure  comes  to  you,  you  shall  have  done  better  than  to  achieve  success 
by  deserving  it,  and  so  that  you  can  inscribe  upon  the  dismantled  mill 
or  the  abandoned  mine  "all  is  lost  save  honor." 

Gentlemen  of  the  Graduating  Class,  I  congratulate  you  upon  the 
future  which  looms  up  before  you.  The  great  advances  in  science, 
mechanics,  and  all  of  the  forms  of  material  and  mental  development 
achieved  during  the  last  fifty  years  will  be  dwarfed  by  those  of  the 
next  half  century.  Your  native  land  possesses  most  marvelous  resources 
and  boundless  possibilities.  Its  great  forests  which  should  be  conserved 
and  increased,  its  vast  water  powers  to  be  developed,  its  great  stores 
of  fuel  to  be  economically  utilized,  and  other  natural  resources  too 
numerous  to  mention,  all  of  which  should  be  used  in  the  most  efficient 
manner,  call  for  earnest,  faithful,  and  intelligent  engineering  work. 

A  part  of  this  work  it  will  be  your  good  fortune  to  do,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  you  will  do  it  vigorously  and  faithfully,  and  will  receive  the 
reward  which  follows  work  well  done.  You  will  find  discouragements, 
but  these  come  to  others  as  well  as  to  engineers.  The  financial  rewards 
of  your  work  may  seem  small  as  compared  with  those  common  in  other 
professions,  but  there  are  other  rewards  besides  these.  The  man  who 
builds  a  successful  machine  enjoys  a  pleasure  which  the  owner  of  it 
does  not,  and  the  engineer  who  sees  scattered  over  the  country  great 
plants  which  he  has  designed,  doing  their  work  well,  obtains  a  great 
reward  even  if  the  financial  return  to  him  is  small  compared  with  that 
received  by  the  stockholders. 

In  addition  to  the  work  which  you  will  find  to  do  in  the  line  of 
engineering,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  your  influence  will  be  widely  felt 
in  other  directions.  There  are  many  problems  in  connection  with  the 
municipal,  state,  and  national  government  that  will  require  solving 
in  the  years  to  come,  and  no  class  of  men  should  be  more  able  to  cast 
their  influence  in  the  right  direction  in  the  solution  of  these  than  the 
engineers.  When  you  consider  that  the  cost  of  building  and  main- 
taining one  modern  battleship  is  greater  than  the  amount  necessary  to 
endow  and  operate  Harvard  University,  Yale  University,  and  Stevens 
Institute,  or  again  that  the  first  cost  of  one  of  these  vessels  would  build 
five  thousand  model  workmen's  homes  costing  $3,000  each,  and  when 
we  see  further  the  insane  rivalry  between  such  great  powers  as  England 
and  Germany  to  see  who  shall  have  the  most  of  these  engines  of  de- 
struction, while  at  the  same  time  both  countries  are  rapidly  drifting 


338  COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS. 

toward  bankruptcy,  it  seems  as  though  the  time  were  ripe  for  educated 
men  and  everyone  else  to  use  their  influence  on  every  possible  occasion 
against  this  species  of  folly. 

When  we  further  notice  the  so-called  alleged  statesmen  who  repre- 
sent the  various  portions  of  our  country  at  Washington  quibbling  over 
.trifles  and  striving  with  all  their  might  to  get  all  the  plunder  out  of  the 
public  crib  for  their  own  districts,  and  failing  to  take  any  action  on  the 
great  questions  which  would  be  of  untold  benefit  to  their  country,  it 
impresses  us  with  the  fact  that  there  are  needed  in  this  country  a  great 
many  clear-headed,  courageous  men  who  can  think  straight  and  are 
not  afraid  to  express  their  opinions.  There  are,  and  will  be,  many  im- 
portant questions  arising,  and  it  should  be  your  duty  and  your  pleasure 
to  use  your  influence  at  all  times  in  favor  of  any  policy  that  will  make 
for  the  good  of  your  country  and  your  fellow  man. 

I  trust  you  will  not  be  content  to  be  simply  skilled  mechanical  spe- 
cialists of  the  type  that  looks  with  contempt  upon  Shakespeare  and 
Milton  because  they  knew  nothing  of  alternating  current  generators 
or  Pelton  water  wheels,  but  that  you  will  strive  to  acquire  a  broad  and 
liberal  culture,  kindly  sympathy,  and  sound  judgment;  that  your  in- 
fluence will  be  steadily  exerted  in  behalf  of  all  things  that  are  of  good 
report  in  social,  civic,  and  national  life,  and  that,  wheresoever  you  may 
be,  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  your  Alma  Mater  may  be  proud  of  you, 
and  that  your  country  and  the  world  may  be  better  for  your  having 
lived  in  it. 

To  you,  Gentlemen  of  the  Graduating  Class,  who,  by  successfully 
completing  the  thorough  and  strenuous  course  demanded  of  you  by  this 
Institute,  have  demonstrated  that  you  have  the  ability  and  industry  to 
acquit  yourselves  with  credit  in  any  work  your  hand  may  find  to  do. 
my  parting  greeting  is, 

"Well  done  and  go  forward." 


STUDY  MEN. 

By 
John  F.  Hayford,  C.  E. 

This  address,  which  treats  of  a  most  important  subject  not  only 
for  young  engineers  but  also  for  all  young  men,  was  given  in  1907  to 
the  graduating  class  of  the  Thomas  S.  Clarkson  Memorial  School  of 
Technology.  Mr.  Hayford  then  held  the  important  official  position  of  In- 
spector of  Geodetic  Work  and  Chief  of  Computing  Division  in  the  Coast 
and  Geodetic  Survey  Department  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  introductory  portion  of  this  address  treats  of  the  magnitude 
and  importance  of  the  engineering  profession,  a  subject  that  cannot 
well  receive  too  much  attention  in  the  curricula  of  technical  schools, 
but  which  unfortunately  as  a  rule,  is  generally  ignored. 

The  advice  to  study  men  is  the  soundest  of  the  sound.  Doing 
so  will  enable  you  not  only  to  benefit  by  the  labor  of  others  but  also  so 
to  mould  your  own  character  as  to  incorporate  in  it  the  good  traits  of 
others  and  reject  the  objectionable  ones.  There  is  an  important  de- 
duction to  be  made  from  Mr.  Hayford's  discourse — something  in  the 
nature  of  a  -corollary — viz.  "Study  the  lives  of  eminent  successful 
engineers"  in  order  to  learn  how  and  why  they  succeeded;  and 
before  reading  any  technical  treatise  learn  all  you  can  concerning  the 
life  history  of  its  author.  This,  to  say  the  least,  will  make  the  study  of 
the  book  more  interesting,  and  probably  also  more  profitable. 

Editors. 


339 


STUDY   MEN. 

By 
John  F.  Hayford,  C.  E. 

We  are  met  to  celebrate  the  graduation  of  a  group  of  young  men 
from  this  institution,  the  Clarkson  Memorial. 

I  congratulate  you,  graduates,  on  your  entrance  upon  your  life 
work  in  the  noble  profession  of  engineering.  It  is  a  profession  in  which 
there  are  great  opportunities  for  service. 

Your  predecessors  who  have  done  their  part  as  engineers  in  turn- 
ing the  forces  of  nature  to  the  use  of  man  have  changed  this  world 
from  one  in  which  the  winner  was  the  man  with  the  brute  strength 
and  physical  bravery  which  gave  him  the  power  to  win  in  a  hand  to 
hand  battle.  It  was  a  world  in  which  all,  even  the  fighters  who  secured 
the  spoils  and  the  kings  who  ruled  the  fighters,  lived  in  comparative 
discomfort.  It  was  a  world  in  which  the  higher  thoughts,  aspirations, 
and  the  impulse  to  render  unselfish  service  which  are  the  essence  of 
civilization,  came  to  but  very  few.  The  mass  of  humanity  were  too 
heavily  loaded  with  hard  labor,  with  real  oppression  from  the  classes 
above  them,  and  with  the  effects  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  to  have 
a  part  in  the  crude  civilization  which  existed.  It  was  a  world  in  which 
men  knew  only  their  nearest  neighbors,  in  which  nations  perpetually 
fought  against  each  other,  in  which  each  people  was  densely  ignorant 
of  every  other  and  correspondingly  suspicious. 

By  turning  the  forces  of  nature  to  the  use  of  man,  your  predeces- 
sors as  engineers  have  changed  this  into  a  world  in  which  the  winner 
is.  the  man  who  thinks  clearly,  controls  himself,  and  may  be  depended 
Up0n, — the  man  who  serves  rather  than  the  man  who  fights.  It  is 
now  a  world  in  which  millions  live  in  greater  comfort  and  security  than 
did  even  the  kings  of  the  ages  before  the  engineer.  It  is  now  a  world 
in  which  the  average  man  works  such  short  hours  and  under  such 
comfortable  conditions  that  he  has  abundant  opportunities  within  his 
reach  to  share  in  the  real  benefits  of  civilization,  to  develop  himself  to 
his  full  capacity. 

Perhaps  you  think  I  have  exaggerated  in  crediting  the  engineer 
with  all  these  changes.  In  terse  statements  there  is  apt  to  be  some 
exaggeration.  But,  the  more  carefully  you  study  this  matter  the  more 

341 


342  STUDY  MEN. 

evidence  you  will  find  of  the  truth  of  these  statements  and  the  more 
enthusiastic  you  will  become  over  your  profession. 

Think  for  a  moment  how  the  steam  engine  and  other  machines 
are  the  basis  of  your  comfort.  Think  of  the  .large  part  they  have 
played  in  furnishing  you  the  light  and  heat  you  have  in  your  houses, 
the  clothes  you  wear,  the  food  you  eat. 

The  locomotive,  the  marine  engine,  the  printing  press,  and  the 
telegraph,  have  made  all  the  peoples  of  the  world  acquainted  and 
changed  them  from  enemies  into  friends.  The  people  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Japanese,  living  on  opposite  sides  of  the  world,  are 
better  acquainted  and  more  friendly  today  than  were  the  French  and  the 
Prussians  one  hundred  years  ago,  living  as  close  neighbors. 

The  engineer  by  producing  powerful  weapons  and  the  means  of 
concentrating  troops  quickly  has  made  war  so  costly  and  so  deadly 
that  we  must  credit  him  with  being  a  most  efficient  peacemaker. 

In  improving  personal  morals,  as  well  as  national  morals,  and 
thereby  advancing  civilization,  the  work  of  the  engineer  is  extremely 
powerful.  He  builds  a  smooth  steel  road  and  a  one  hundred  ton  loco- 
motive which  draws  a  massive  train  at  a  mile  a  minute.  Then  it  is 
found  that  the  safety, — the  lives, — of  the  hundreds  of  passengers  on 
the  train  depends  upon  the  quick  and  certain  action  of  the  man  in  the 
cab  of  the  locomotive.  He  must  not  only  see  the  faint  danger  signal 
within  a  few  seconds,  every  time  it  appears  before  him,  he  must  not 
fail  to  act  promptly  and  with  good  judgment,  or  pay  the  forfeit  with 
his  own  life  and  possibly  with  the  lives  of  many  others.  This  and 
other  situations,  created  by  the  engineer,  in  which  certainty  and  quick- 
ness of  action  of  the  nerves  and  brain  are  absolutely  necessary,  be- 
cause great  responsibility  is  concentrated  on  one  man,  have  been  most 
powerful  influences  in  changing  this  from  an  irresponsible,  drunken 
world  into  a  responsible,  temperate  one.  You  never  heard  of  a  rail- 
road company  claiming  that  it  needed  to  provide  a  canteen  to  keep  its 
employees  sober. 

I  congratulate  you  on  joining  a  group  of  men  who  are  doing  great 
service  for  the  world, — a  service  much  greater  than  the  world  appre- 
ciates it  to  be, — a  service  much  greater  than  the  engineers  themselves 
realize.  One  of  the  prominent  characteristics  of  the  average  engineer 
is  that  he  is  so  wrapped  up  in  his  work  as  to  see  only  its  immediate 
results  and  to  fail  to  see  its  much  greater  indirect  effects.  He  fails  to 
realize  fully  that  he  is  working  through  men  and  for  men, — that  the 
most  important  effect  of  his  work  is  its  influence  on  the  onward  and 
upward  progress  of  man. 


HAY  FORD.  343 

It  is  because  this  is  my  opinion  of  the  engineer  and  his  work  that 
I  have  all  that  I  can  possibly  do  to  live  up  to  the  title  C.  E. 

I  come  to  urge  you  to  study  men.  Why?  Because  much  of  your 
learning  is  done  through  other  men,  because  you  will  do  your  work 
through  men,  and  because  men  are  so  difficult  to  understand  that  care- 
ful study  is  required.  Men  are  the  most  important  objects  of  interest 
that  will  come  within  your  sphere  of  knowledge.  I  urge  you,  gradu- 
ates, to  study  men  because  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  there  are  some 
among  you  who  will  fail  to  be  useful  in  the  world  simply  because  you 
will  fail  to  understand  men  until  it  is  too  late. 

Please  note  that  you  are  urged  to  study  men  for  perfectly  unmoral 
reasons.  You  are  not  urged  to  study  men  to  learn  how  to  improve 
their  morals,  not  for  any  effect  it  may  have  upon  your  own  morals.  You 
are  urged  to  study  men  in  order  to  make  yourself  more  efficient  as  an 
engineer, — the  purpose  for  which  you  study  steel  or  concrete. 

I  have  said  that  you  should  study  men  because  much  of  your  learn- 
ing is  done  through  men.  Have  you  ever  considered  how  large  a  pra- 
portion  of  the  stock  of  knowledge  and  wisdom  you  have  gathered  has 
come  to  you  through  other  men's  brains? 

You,  graduates,  have  been  under  the  continuous  influence  of  the 
teachers  in  school  and  college  for  16  to  20  years, — for  more  than 
three-fourths  of  your  life.  You  have  acquired  through  their  efforts. 
They  have  guided,  encouraged,  and  inspired  you.  To  a  large  extent 
your  knowledge  has  been  selected  by  them  and  your  views  colored  by 
them.  You  have  learned  from  and  through  your  teachers  rather  than 
from  direct  contact  with  facts. 

During  this  school  and  college  period  you  have  learned  much  from 
books  rather  than  from  teachers.  But  a  book  is  simply  the  ideas  of  a 
man  made  visible  and  explained  in  the  way  which  seems  best  to  him. 
You  seldom  think  of  the  man  behind  the  book.  But  when  you  read 
and  study  a  book  you  are  learning  through  the  brain  of  that  man. 
Your  ideas  are  influenced,  guided,  colored  by  him.  To  get  the  full 
value  of  the  book  you  should  know  the  man. 

If  you  prove  to  be  a  successful  engineer,  you  will  pass  through 
three  periods  with  reference  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  wis- 
dom. First,  the  school  and  college  period  when  you  acquired  through 
books  and  teachers.  Second,  the  period  comprising  the  first  ten  or 
more  years  after  you  leave  college,  the  period  during  which  you  will 
occupy  subordinate  positions  and  be  in  close  contact  with  material 
facts.  By  that  close  contact  with  facts  you  will  gain  experience  which 
will  remedy,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  inevitable  defects  of  any  edu- 
cation furnished  by  books  and  teachers  alone. 


344  STUDY  MEN. 

Just  as  rapidly  and  as  certainly  as  you  gain  real  success  by  show- 
ing ability  to  make  yourself  useful  in  the  world,  and  by  using  your  abil- 
ity, you  will  find  your  responsibilities  increased,  the  demands  upon  you 
increased,  and  will  find  that  you  cannot,  if  you  are  to  accomplish  most, 
remain  in  direct  contact  with  all  the  facts  of  your  daily  work.  You 
will  enter  into  the  third  period  with  respect  to  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge and  wisdom.  You  will  find  yourself  in  a  position  where  you 
must  acquire  knowledge  through  your  subordinates  who  are  themselves 
in  more  direct  contact  with  the  facts.  The  chief  engineer  of  a  rail- 
road, the  chief  engineer  of  a  great  government  engineering  bureau 
like  the  Reclamation  Service,  the  head  of  a  great  technical  school, 
necessarily  sees  the  facts  of  the  work  for  which  he  is  responsible  mainly 
through  the  eyes  and  brains  of  his  subordinates.  In  the  third,  or 
executive,  period  then,  as  in  the  first,  or  school  period,  the  successful 
engineer  acquires  knowledge  and  wisdom  by  utilizing  the  brains  of 
other  men. 

When  you  are  in  school  and  college  you  are,  as  a  rule,  learning 
things  which  were  well  known  long  before  your  time,  you  are  acquir- 
ing knowledge  which  is  well  organized  by  the  successive  efforts  of  many 
men,  teachers,  and  authors.  Because  it  is  well  organized  knowledge, 
already  worked  over  by  many  men,  this  concentrated  experience  comes 
to  you  from  the  past  with  comparatively  little  coloring  due  specifically 
to  the  last  author  and  the  last  teacher  in  the  series  through  which  it 
passed  to  you.  But  it  does  come  to  you  with  high  coloring  and  in  a 
distorted  form,  because  the  long  series  of  authors  and  teachers  have, 
as  a  rule,  belonged  to  one  profession, — teaching — because  they  have  all 
been  thinkers,  rather  than  doers.  It  is  within  your  power,  to  a  great 
extent,  to  remove  the  inevitable  false  coloring,  and  to  round  out  the 
inevitably  distorted  form  by  heeding  your  own  experience  to  be  gained 
in  the  second  period  already  referred  to, — the  period  during  which 
you  are  to  be  in  engineering  in  subordinate  positions  in  close  contact 
with  facts. 

But  as  you  gradually,  by  being  successful,  pass  into  the  third  period 
in  which  you  again  depend  upon  utilizing  the  brains  of  others,  yon 
will  find  that  the  facts  you  must  deal  with  have  not  been  known  long, 
that  they  are  not  well  organized,  that  they  come  to  you  through  one 
man  or  through  a  short  series  of  men  only,  and  that  as  a  rule  the  re- 
lations between  the  facts  are  but  dimly  perceived  by  the  men  from 
whom  you  get  them.  Under  these  conditions  the  facts  and  principles 
come  to  you  highly  colored  and  greatly  distorted  and  but  dimly  out- 
lined because  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  man,  or  the  few  men,  through 
whom  you  get  them.  It  becomes,  therefore,  of  prime  importance  to 


HAY  FORD.  34$ 

you  to  understand  that  man,  or  those  men.     To  be  entirely  successful 
you  must  study  men. 

I  say,  advisedly,  that  the  facts  with  which  you  must  deal  in  the 
third  period  are  of  this  character.  The  well  known  and  well  organized 
facts  and  principles  will  be  dealt  with  by  your  subordinates  without 
coining  to  you  for  attention. 

********** 

I  have  urged  that  you  study  men  because  you  learn  through  men. 
When  you  have  learned  and  come  in  turn  to  do,  you  will  find  that  your 
work  must  be  done  through  other  men,  as  a  rule. 

An  engineer  does  very  little  directly  without  the  intervention  of 
other  men  between  him  and  his  accomplishment,  even  when  he  is  in 
minor,  subordinate  positions.  Even  the  levelman  is  dependent  on  his 
rodman  and  recorder.  The  inspector  on  construction  may  see  with 
his  own  eyes,  but  he  produces  changes  only  by  operating  through  a 
foreman  or  perhaps  a  chain  of  several  men,  including  the  engineer  to 
whom  he  reports,  the  contractor,  the  contractor's  foreman,  and  finally 
the  workmen.  The  draftsman  may  seem  to  be  directly  in  contact  with 
his  work  but  he  really  accomplishes  something  only  as  he  succeeds  by 
means  of  drawings  in  guiding  the  skilled  workmen  whom  perhaps  he 
never  sees.  In  each  of  even  these  simple  cases  the  effectiveness  of  the 
engineer  is  conditioned  in  part  on  his  accurate  understanding  of  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  men  through  whom  he  works. 

As  an  engineer  rises  higher  in  the  organization  with  which  he 
works,  his  field  of  influence  becomes  larger,  but  the  line  of  men  through 
whom  he  works  'to  produce  material  results  also  lengthens.  He  works 
to  an  increasing  degree  through  other  men  and  it  is  of  increasing  im- 
portance that  he  understands  other  men.  Or,  if  he  fails  to  know  men 
he  is  apt  to  fail  to  rise. 

An  engineer  works  through  other  men  not  connected  with  him  in 
any  organization  by  convincing  them  of  the  correctness  of  his  view, 
and  of  the  advisability  of  doing  certain  things.  He  produces  results  in 
these  cases  by  convincing.  It  may  seem  at  first  sight  th'at  in  this  re- 
spect a  man  works  in  a  different  way  through  other  men  according  to 
whether  they  are  his  subordinates  in  a  close  organization  or  are  out- 
side the  organization.  But  experience  will  show  you  that  there  is  no 
real  difference.  You  can  be  effective  in  producing  results  through 
your  subordinates  in  an  organization  only  by  convincing  them  that  you 
are  right,  though  it  may  not  be  necessary  that  they  understand  why 
your  decisions  are  right.  If  you  do  not  convince,  your  subordinates 
will  accomplish  whatever  is  within  their  native  ability  to  accomplish 
unguided,  but  no  part  of  that  accomplishment  will  be  due  to  you. 


346  STUDY  MEN. 

If  you  are  to  succeed, — to  be  valuable  in  the  world — to  know  is 
not  enough,  you  must  make  others  to  know.  Your  power  of  passing 
knowledge  from  your  own  into  another  man's  mind  depends  largely 
upon  your  understanding  of  that  man.  Hence  you  must  study  him. 
If  you  understand  him  and  have  a  thorough  mastery  of  the  topic  in 
hand  then  your  success  in  convincing  him  still  depends  largely  on  your 
skill  in  using  language,  in  making  words  effective  carriers  of  ideas. 
Language  is  one  of  the  tools  of  an  engineer, — a  tool  which  he  has  fre- 
quently neglected  because  he  has  as  frequently  failed  to  realize  that 
men  are  also  his  tools. 

As  soon  as  you  are  well  started  in  studying  men  you  will  find 
yourself  studying  the  need  and  purpose  of  organization.  For  as  soon 
as  you  fully  realize  what  great  differences  there  are  in  their  principal 
characteristics,  and  even  how  widely  the  capabilities  of  a  given  man 
may  vary  at  different  stages  of  his  life,  you  will  realize  why  and  how 
it  is  that  a  group  of  men  working  together  as  an  organization  may  ac- 
complish much  more  than  the  same  men  could  if  they  worked  inde- 
pendently, as  individuals. 

A  very  common  conception  of  organization  is  that  it  is  an  arbitrary 
arrangement  by  which  orders  are  transmitted  by  various  steps, 
through  different  groups  of  officials,  from  the  man  at  the  head  of  the 
organization  to  the  many  men  who  form  the  rank  and  file  and  do  the 
actual  work.  Many  graduates  have  shown  that  they  believe  that  the 
way  for  a  man  in  a  high  position  to  get  a  thing  done  is  to  order  it 
done.  Poor  and  inefficient  administrators  may  do  it  that  way.  The 
successful  administrators  are  men  who  act  on  the  principle  that  their 
business  is  to  administer  unto  those  below  them  in  the  organization  in 
three  ways.  First,  by  putting  them  into  such  places  and  under  such 
conditions  that  they  can  do  their  best;  second,  by  giving  them  orders 
necessary  to  show  what  is  expected  of  them;  and,  third,  by  enlisting- 
their  wills  as  well  as  their  bodies  and  minds  in  the  work  of  the  organi- 
zation so  that  they  will  do  their  best.  The  first  and  third  of  these, 
the  average  graduate  has  never  seriously  thought  of.  He  sees  in  the 
administrative  officer  the  man  who  orders.  The  successful  adminis- 
trator finds  his  time  so  thoroughly  filled  with  the  first  and  third  kinds 
of  administration,  with  putting  each  man  in  the  place  and  under  the 
conditions  most  favorable  to  his  effectiveness,  and  with  enlisting  in  the 
service  the  will  of  the  man,  that  orders  fill  but  a  small  part  of  his 
horizon. 

The  men  near  the  top  in  an  organization  normally  do  the  most 
difficult  work.  Normally  they  are  the  men  who  work  most  intensely 
and  for  the  longest  hours.  In  the  great  organization  with  which  I  am 


HAY  FORD.  347 

connected,  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States,  this  is  so  commonly 
recognized  that  it  calls  forth  no  comment  to  see  the  rank  and  file  leave 
at  four-thirty  and  come  at  exactly  nine,  while  others  who  are  in  re- 
sponsible control  of  the  organization  work  early,  late,  and  strenuously. 
I  have  urged  you  to  study  men,  and  especially  to  study  men  from 
a  certain  point  of  view, — the  point  of  view  of  one  who  wishes  to  attain 
success  as  an  engineer.  You  may  properly  ask  how  it  is  proposed  to 
study  this  subject.  Study  it  as  you  should  study  any  other  engineering 
topic.  Use  the  best  books  you  can  find,  study  current  practice  as  shown, 
in  current  literature,  study  the  facts  and  principles  directly  whenever 
you  can. 

You  will  find  at  the  outset  that  no  one  existing  book  will  serve  as 
a  text-book.  There  certainly  are  fundamental  principles,  capable  of 
being  put  into  words,  which  are  daily  being  applied  by  successful  ad- 
ministrators. But  these  administrators  do  not  put  them  into  words 
themselves.  They  are  too  busy.  Some  of  them  will  tell  you  that  they 
act  by  intuition.  If  the  principles  are  put  into  words  it  will  be  done 
by  some  one  who  makes  that  his  chief  aim  for  the  time  being,  some 
one  who  will  study  carefully  the  words  (spoken  and  written)  and  the 
acts  of  successful  administrators,  and  perhaps  failures  in  that  line  also. 
That  is  the  way  the  excellent  text-books  on  various  courses  in  engi- 
neering have  been  built  up,  and  the  transition  made  from  the  time,  only 
two  generations  ago,  when  Mahan's  Civil  Engineering  was  the  single 
text-book,  to  the  present  state  of  affairs  when  we  have  complete  and 
well  written  text-books  in  each  of  many  lines  of  engineering,  as,  for 
example,  Masonry  Structures,  Bridges,  Hydraulics,  Sanitary  Engineer- 
ing, and  so  on.  It  was  the  teacher  rather  than  the  successful  engineer 
who  put  into  clear,  definite,  teachable  form  the  principles  used  by  en- 
gineers. So  you  must  not  expect  the  man  who  is  successful  in  dealing 
with  men,  the  successful  administrator,  to  tell  you  how  he  does  it.  You 
must  directly,  or  through  others,  watch  his  actions  and  their  effects, 
listen  to  his  spoken  words,  and  read  his  writings  on  all  sorts  of  topics. 

To  sum  up:  You  have  in  your  four-year  course  been  studying 
material  things,  the  facts  of  nature  and  the  laws  of  nature.  You  have 
been  acquiring  -that  engineering  knowledge,  knowledge  of  the  forces 
of  nature  and  the  strength  and  properties  of  materials,  which  is  abso- 
lutely essential  to  your  success  as  an  engineer.  You  have  studied  man 
comparatively  little.  You  have  acquired  your  engineering  knowledge 
largely  through  men  and  will  continue  to  do  so.  The  soundness  of 
your  engineering  knowledge  depends  in  part  upon  your  knowledge  of 
men;  but  what  is  still  more  important  the  effectiveness  with  which  you 
will  use  your  engineering  knowledge  depends  very  intimately  upon 


348  STUDY  MEN. 

your  knowledge  of  men.  Hence,  you  are  urged,  as  you  do  your  part 
in  the  world,  to  study  men  as  well  as  engineering.  You  are  urged  to 
pay  attention  to  all  phases  of  the  men  around  you,  to  see  and  appreci- 
ate them  as  literary  and  artistic  men,  as  well  as  technical  men,  as  men 
of  feeling  as  well  as  men  of  thought,  as  incarnated  motives  as  well  as 
thinking  and  working  machines. 

To  attain  to  the  highest  success  as  an  engineer  you  should  not  only 
be  able  to  reach  correct  conclusions  quickly  when  you  have  the  facts 
before  you  for  direct  observation.  You  should  also  have  the  power  to 
draw  correct  conclusions  quickly  from  information  which  comes  to  you 
through  other  men.  This  power  comes  largely  from  knowing  men. 

To  attain  to  the  highest  success  as  an  engineer  you  must  not  be 
the  type  of  man  who  knows  how  to  do  things  excellently  but  cannot 
tell  others  how  to  do  them, — 'the  man  who  gets  knowledge  abundantly 
but  can  apply  it  only  through  his  own  fingers.  Instead  of  devoting 
your  energy  simply  to  increasing  your  own  output  by  fifty  or  even  one 
hundred  per  cent,  it  is  far  better, — you  make  yourself  more  useful  to 
the  world — by  using  your  energy  to  increase  the  output  of  each  of  one 
hundred  men  by  ten  per  cent.  The  world  recognizes  this  by  awarding 
the  prizes  to  the  administrators. 


CRITICISM   OF  THE  ENGINEERING  SCHOOLS. 

By 

Professor  Dugald  C.  Jackson. 

Unfortunately,  most  of  this  address,  which  was  delivered  in  1910 
to  the  graduating  class  of  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology,  is  hardly 
suitable  for  the  purpose  of  this  book.  A  few  extracts  from  it,  however, 
may  be  read  by  students  to  advantage,  and  they  are  here  reproduced, 
both  on  account  of  their  value  and  to  provide  a  specimen  of  the  technical 
writing  of  one  of  our  leading  instructors  in  electrical  engineering.  Prof. 
Jackson  occupies  that  chair  in  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology. 

Editors. 


349 


CRITICISM  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  SCHOOLS. 

By 
Professor  Dugald  C.  Jackson. 


How  many  of  you  young  men,  students  of  engineering,  composing 
this  audience  have  reflected  upon  the  meaning  of  the  profession  which 
you  are  intending  to  follow,  or  of  the  duties  which  are  associated 
with  it?  How  many  of  you  have  in  mind  a  clear-cut  definition  of  the 
character  of  the  mental  processes  used  by  experienced  engineers  in 
executing  their  duties?  How  many  of  you  have  a  clear  recognition 
of  the  distinctions  of  mind  and  method  which  compose  the  differences 
between  an  engineer  and  a  well-educated  mechanic  of  unusual  skill? 
You  must  reflect  on  all  of  these  points  and  come  to  adequate  convic- 
tions before  you  can  become  of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished 
ranks  of  engineers.  These  things  can  be  organized  in  one's  mind  only 
by  the  thoughtful  reflection  which  arouses  the  imagination.  Thought- 
ful reflection  is,  to  paraphrase  Lowell,  as  needful  for  the  imagination 
as  society  is  wholesome  for  the  character;  and  an  engineer's  education 
can  be  scarcely  begun  until  he  learns  that  an  exact  and  truthful  imag- 
ination is  one  of  his  most  important  professional  possessions. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  #s|e  # 

But  we  must  also  remember  that  a  truly  influential  man  must  know 
something  of  literature,  biography,  history,  art,  and  music.  He  must  be 
a  man  of  complete  living.  "To  prepare  us  for  complete  living,"  Her- 
bert Spencer  said  in  his  interesting  book  on  educaiton,  "is  the  function 
which  education  has  to  discharge;  and  the  only  rational  mode  of  judg- 
ing of  any  educational  course  is  to  judge  in  what  degree  it  discharges 
such  function."  Spencer  also  defines  what  he  means  by  complete  living, 
and  every  able,  reflecting  man  may  give  a  similar  definition  out  of  his 
own  consciousness  and  experience:  An  education  for  complete  living- 
includes  training  the  faculties  of  self-preservation,  the  faculties  of 
self-support,  the  faculties  of  the  domestic  life  and  proper  parentage, 
the  faculties  of  good  citizenship  including  interest  and  activity  in  the 
betterment  of  our  political  and  social  relations,  the  faculties  of  properly 
enjoying  one's  leisure  and  lending  enjoyment  to  others. 

The  study  of  science  and  its  applications  as  carried  on  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  our  better  engineering  schools  may  surely  be  made  an  impor- 

351 


352  THE  ENGINEERING  SCHOOLS. 

tant  stimulus  to  each  of  the  powers  and  faculties  which  are  required  for 
complete  living.  It  has  been  asserted  that  it  lends  itself  more  particu- 
larly to  the  earlier  and  less  disinterested  ones;  but  that  this  is  necessary 
I  must  deny.  The  profession  of  the  engineer  demands  a  creative  im- 
agination cultivated  to  the  sober  clear  sight  which  sees  things  as  they 
are,  and  from  which  springs  an  appreciation  of  art,  literature,  and 
music  which  rivals  that  produced  in  any  other  manner.  But  the  physi- 
cal sciences  and  their  applications,  even  when  coupled  with  desirable 
dilettantism,  are  not  adequate  to  the  requirements  of  engineering  in 
its  broadest  sense;  and  the  political  and  social  sciences  must  be  added 
to  the  list. 

In  this  latter  respect"-  most  of  our  engineering  curricula  have  been 
startlingly  deficient.  I  even  lay  the  charge  at  the  door  of  your  own  great 
Institute ;  an  Institute  which  has  instructed  the  spirit  of  many  who  have 
become  of  the  nation's  leading  engineers.  Will  you  look  through  that 
list  of  distinguished  engineers  and  tell  me  how  many  have  become  not- 
able for  activities  in  the  political  and  social  affairs  of  the  nation?  We 
can  count  to  your  credit  your  distinguished  alumnus  and  President  and 
a  few  others  of  corresponding  public  spirit,  but  they  are  few  when  noted 
in  comparison  with  the  importance  of  the  engineer's  work  in  civilization 
and  civic  life  and  the  important  influence  which  the  Institute  has  borne 
in  American  engineering.  Remember  that  the  existence  of  civilization 
as  we  know  it,  and  to  a  large  degree  its  advancement,  depend  upon  trans- 
portation and  intercommunication,  which  are  fundamentally  engineering 
industries.  Are  the  engineers  then  to  allow  those  important  political  and 
civic  activities  which  cling  around  civilized  life  to  fall  under  the  sole 
direction  of  others? 

It  is  an  easy  answer  to  say  that  the  engineers  are  too  busy  in  work- 
ing and  directing  the  economic  advances  of  civilization  to  afford  at- 
tention to  the  way  in  which  political  and  civic  activities  are  guided ;  but 
this  answer  is  inadequate.  The  lawyers,  the  physicians,  the  merchants 
are  also  busily  engaged  in  affairs  of  importance,  in  their  kind,  and  they 
might  make  a  similar  excuse  for  abstaining  from  political  and  social 
activity;  in  which  case,  I  think  we  must  all  admit,  our  forms  of  gov- 
ernment would  soon  break  down  from  want  of  adequately  trained  and 
disinterested  leaders. 

*  #  #  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

I  take  the  ground  that  it  is  desirable  for  students  as  well  as  faculties 
to  recognize,  reflect  on,  and  understand  the  human  shortcomings  of  the 
courses  of  training.  By  no  other  means,  it  seems  to  me,  can  earnest  stu- 
dents be  stimulated  to  make  the  most  of  their  opportunities  and  belie 
the  charge  of  inefficiency  that  is  sometimes  laid  at  the  door  of  engineer- 


JACKSON.  353 

ing  graduates.  I  think  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  engineering  courses 
make  the  best  preparation  for  engineering  and  industrial  life  that  has 
been  devised.  Good  engineers  lived  before  the  engineering  schools ;  but 
the  engineering  schools  are  doing  a  tremendous  work  in  providing  men 
with  the  mental  means  to  extend  engineering  knowledge  and  advance 
engineering  practice. 

One  of  the  things  that  students,  to  their  disadvantage,  commonly 
fail  to  keep  constantly  in  mind  is  the  fact  that  a  man  of  ability  and 
courage  can  usually  make  of  himself  that  which  his  ambitions  dictate. 
If  you  set  your  ambitions  right  there  need  be  no  fear  of  your  reasonable 
success.  Failure  by  a  man  of  ability  and  courage,  who  also  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  education,  is  scarcely  to  be  condoned.  The  only  sufficient  ex- 
cuse is  an  inadequate  physique  or  ill  health  caused  through  no  fault  of 
the  individual.  In  engineering  nothing  is  ordinarily  sufficient  to  excuse 
failure. 

********** 

If  a  man  concentrates  his  efforts,  is  honest,  is  patient,  performs  his 
duties  with  thoroughness,  masters  the  principles  relating  to  his  employ- 
ment, and  thinks  (it  is  remarkable  "How  many  never  think,  who  think 
they  do"),  he  is  sure  to  succeed.  True  success  is  a  great  achievement, 
and  great  achievements  require  long  expenditure  of  well-directed  en- 
deavor for  their  erection. 

:•:*****  *  * 


V  \ 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF  THE  SCHOOL 
OF  ENGINEERING  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  KANSAS. 

By 
Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell. 

This  address  was  delivered  in  1893  by  one  of  the  Editors  and  lis- 
tened to  by  the  other,  who  was  then  a  student  of  K.  U.  No  comment 
is  permissible;  but  the  reader's  attention  is  called  specially  to  the  advice 
given  to  young  graduate  engineers  to  obtain  a  wide,  general  experi- 
ence in  comparatively  low  positions  before  settling  down  to  one  particu- 
lar line  of  work.  This  experiment  has  been  tried  by  a  number  of  men 
and  with  great  success. 

Editors. 


355 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF  THE  SCHOOL 
OF  ENGINEERING  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  KANSAS. 

By 
Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell. 

In  an  address  like  this,  it  is,  I  suppose,  in  order  for  me  to  give  to 
you,  who  are  about  to  undertake  the  duties  of  practical  life,  some  good 
advice  based  upon  my  personal  experience,  which,  by  the  way,  covers 
about  eighteen  years  of  practice  in  various  branches  of  engineering,  in- 
cluding that  of  civil  engineering  education.  Unfortunately,  it  is  a  fact 
that,  in  general,  people  are  more  fond  of  giving  advice  than  of  taking 
it ;  and  I  have  found  on  a  number  of  occasions  that  advice  given  to  stu- 
dents was  unheeded.  It  is.  an  old  saying  that  each  one  must  "dree  his 
ain  weird,"  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  it ;  nevertheless  I  have 
seen  occasions  when  advice  from  older  men  was  eagerly  sought  after 
and  appreciated  when  given.  To  many  minds  the  receiving  of  advice 
and  acting  upon  it  is  an  indication  of  mental  inferiority,  or  at  least  of 
a  lack  of  strong-mindedness ;  but  I  have  noticed  that  the  individuals  who 
are  governed  by  such  ideas  generally  make  a  failure  in  both  professional 
and  business  life.  Self-reliance  is  a  very  good  thing,  if  not  carried  too 
far,  and,  in  fact,  is  an  essential  to  success  in  any  calling;  nevertheless, 
its  possession  should  not  debar  one  from  profiting  by  the  experience  of 
others. 

I  can  look  back  to  a  portion  of  my  life  when  some  sound,  practical 
advice  from  an  older  engineer  would  have  been  of  the  greatest  benefit  to 
me,  in  that  it  would  have  been  the  means  of  preventing  me  from  wast- 
ing considerable  valuable  time,  simply  because  I  did  not  know  how  to 
employ  it  advantageously. 

Let  me  hope,  then,  that  my  words  to-day  will  not  be  entirely  wast- 
ed, but  that  some  of  you  will  benefit  by  them,  and  that  in  the  years  to 
come  I  shall  occasionally  run  across  one  of  you  who  will  tell  me  that 
my  advice  was  good,  and  that  it  has  proved  useful  to  him. 

Please  remember  that  it  is  based  upon  my  personal  experience  as 
well  as  upon  observation  of  the  careers  of  others,  and  that  it  is  drawn 
from  both  successes  and  failure;  because  there  is  always  a  great  deal 
to  be  learned  about  "how  not  to  do  it."  Please  remember,  also,  that  I 
am  in  great  sympathy  with  students  of  civil  engineering ;  for  at  heart  I 
am  still  a  professor,  and  some  day  after  I  have  earned  sufficient  money 

357 


358  KANSAS   UNIVERSITY  ADDRESS. 

in  the  practice  of  engineering  to  permit  me  to  indulge  in  such  extrava- 
gance, I  should  like  again  to  occupy  a  professor's  chair.  To  my  mind 
there  is  no  more  useful  or  higher  branch  of  the  engineering  profession 
than  that  of  instruction,  notwithstanding  the  openly  avowed  opinion  of 
many  practicing  engineers  to  the  contrary.  It  is  not  sufficient,  though, 
to  recognize  for  oneself  the  equality  of  professors  and  practicing  en- 
gineers; but  it  is  necessary  to  make  the  world  at  large  acknowledge 
the  fact.  Steps  in  this  direction,  I  am  happy  to  say,  are  now  being 
.taken;  and  to-day  the  professor  of  civil  engineering  takes  higher  rank 
in  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers  than  he  did  a  few  years  ago. 
But  to  return  to  the  subject  in  hand,  viz.,  advice  to  young  engin- 
eers. On  account  of  the  kindly  feeling  I  entertain  toward  all  engineer- 
ing students,  especially  those  who  are  earnest  and  ambitious,  I  shall 
speak  to  you  very  freely  and  openly,  giving  you  of  the  best  that  I  have, 
even  if  by  so  doing  I  lay  myself  open  to  adverse  criticism. 

But  to  accomplish  what  I  have  in  mind  I  must  drop  all  formality 
in  addressing  you,  and  meet  each  of  you  as  man  to  man  upon  a  most 
intimate  footing — in  fact  I  must  speak  as  if  I  had  known  each  one  of 
you  for  years  and  had  taken  a  personal  interest  in  your  welfare.  I  shall 
take  it  for  granted  that  you  will  permit  this  liberty,  and  shall  govern 
myself  accordingly.  In  following  this  method  I  shall  have  to  reduce  my 
address  to  a  rambling  discourse,  ruining  it  perhaps  as  far  as  elegance  is 
concerned,  but  at  the  same  time  rendering  it  the  more  useful. 

As  Commencement  Day  approaches,  each  engineering  student  of  the 
graduating  class,  as  soon  as  he  has  assured  himself  of  his  graduation,  be- 
gins to  think  more  and  more  of  the  work  that  he  shall  do  after  finishing 
his  course  of  study,  and  of  the  position  that  he  will  obtain.  He  natural- 
ly gauges  the  positions  that  he  hears  of  by  the  amount  of  salary  offered 
in  each  case ;  and  strives  to  obtain  the  one  to  which  the  highest  salary  is 
attached.  In  so  doing  he  makes  a  fundamental  and  most  serious  mis- 
take, because  the  true  ultimate  value  of  any  position  offered  to  a  newly 
fledged  engineer  is  an  inverse  function  of  the  salary  paid.  This  sounds, 
perhaps,  like  a  very  strange  and  wild  statement,  but  it  is,  nevertheless, 
a  true  one; — let  us  look  into  the  matter  a  little,  and  perhaps  you  will 
agree  with  me.  The  highest  salary  in  this  country  paid  to  young  engin- 
eers immediately  after  graduation  is,  as  far  as  my  experience  goes,  one 
hundred  dollars  per  month ;  and  this  amount  is  given  only  in  very  flush 
times  when  there  is  a  great  demand  for  assistants  in  the  field.  To  earn 
such  a  salary  at  the  start,  the  young  engineer  must  be  already  well  post- 
ed on  the  practical  part  of  the  work  in  addition  to  being  versed  in  the 
theory.  Now  what  practical  work  is  there  on  which  students  are  posted  ? 


WADDELL.  359 

Why,  simply  elementary  surveying!  Consequently  the  fortunate  or  un- 
fortunate young  man  (according  to  the  point  of  view  of  the  person  con- 
sidering the  case),  who  receives  one  hundred  dollars  per  month  to  begin 
with,  will  have  his  attention  confined  to  the  laying  out  of  town  lots  for 
speculators  or  to  surveying  farms;  and  how  much,  pray,  is  to  be  learned 
on  that  kind  of  work?  Something,  of  course,  because  no  one  can  do 
work  of  any  kind  without  increasing  the  amount  of  his  knowledge  and 
experience ;  but  how  little  it  is  in  comparison  with  what  is  to  be  learned 
in  the  higher  branches  of  engineering!  Again,  what  future  prospects 
are  there  in  such  work  as  surveying?  It  is  seldom  indeed  that  a  sur- 
veyor makes  more  than  a  bare  living,  and  when  times  are  bad  the  young 
engineer  engaged  in  this  line  is  very  likely  to  lose  his  position  or  have  to 
spend  many  idle  days  without  pay. 

Railroading  offers  a  better  field  to  the  recent  graduate  than  does 
land  surveying,  and  at  the  same  time  the  pay  is  fair.  For  instance,  any 
man  on  a  railroad  survey  can  really  earn  for  his  employers  forty  or 
fifty  dollars  per  month  besides  the  cost  of  his  subsistence,  even  if  it  be 
only  by  dragging  chain  or  driving  stakes ;  because  the  life  is  a  hard  one 
physically,  and  manual  labor  can  always  command  a  certain  amount  of 
pecuniary  compensation.  But  the  young  engineer  who  works  in  a  sub- 
ordinate position  on  a  railroad  survey  will  have  to  spend  a  great  deal  of 
time  in  a  manner  that  is  profitable  to  his  employers,  but  not  so  profitable 
to  himself.  He  will  be  gaining  some  experience,  of  course,  but  not  the 
greatest  possible  amount  or  the  highest  grade  of  experience.  Notwith- 
standing this,  I  believe  there  is  no  more  attractive  opening,  and  often- 
times no  more  truly  profitable  one,  to  the  recent  graduate  than  a  posi- 
tion on  a  railroad  survey.  Coming  as  he  does  from  a  sedentary  life,  and 
too  often  worn  out  both  physically  and  mentally  by  overwork,  the  active 
exercise  in  the  field  proves  to  be  exactly  what  he  needs ;  and  after  a  few 
days,  when  the  physical  exhaustion  attendant  on  unaccustomed  bodily 
exercise  has  passed  away,  he  feels  like  a  new  man,  the  mere  acts  of  liv- 
ing and  breathing  become  a  pleasure,  the  sun  appears  to  shine  more 
brightly  than  it  has  shone  for  years,  and  he  experiences  a  new  phase  of 
existence.  Such  a  life  is  most  seductive,  and  unless  one  is  careful,  it  is 
apt  to  divert  his  tastes  and  ambitions  from  higher  to  lower  things.  The 
truly  ambitious  young  man  can,  however,  improve  his  time  in  such  a 
position  by  picking  up  stray  bits  of  knowledge  here  and  there,  not  only 
on  his  work,  but  by  conversation  with  the  other  members  of  the  party. 

An  experience  of  this  kind  at  the  outset  of  one's  career  will  give 
him  a  taste  for  out-of-door  life  which  he  will  retain  as  long  as  he  lives. 
On  this  point  I  speak  from  personal  experience;  for  shortly  after  grad- 
uating I  took  a  position  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  that  caused  me 


360  KANSAS    UNIVERSITY   ADDRESS. 

to  spend  eighteen  months  in  the  wilderness  to  the  northwest  of  Lake 
Superior,  where,  in  addition  to  my  strictly  professional  duties,  I  had  to 
work  harder  physically  than  any  day  laborer  in  civilization.  Now, 
strange  to  say,  there  is  no  portion  of  my  professional  career  to  which  I 
look  back  with  as  much  pleasure  as  I  do  to  those  eighteen  months  spent 
in  the  wilds.  There  is  something  peculiarly  attractive  and  inspiriting  in 
such  a  rough  life,  with  its  hard  work,  long  tramps  through  the  swamps 
in  summer  and  on  snow  shoes  in  winter,  its  hardships,  which  include 
coarse  and  sometimes  not  overplentiful  food,  uncomfortable  lodgings 
(generally  consisting  of  a  leaky  tent  carpeted  with  hemlock  boughs  to 
serve  as  a  couch),  innumerable  insect  pests,  wet  weather  in  summer  and 
extreme  cold  in  winter ;  its  jolly  evenings  spent  over  the  camp  fire,  where 
past  experiences  in  bush-life  are  narrated,  and  even  its  dangers,  which 
give  spice  to  the  whole  life.  Such  dangers  were  by  no  means  imagin- 
ary ;  as  many  a  poor  fellow  has  lost  his  life  in  that  country  through  forest 
fire,  severe  cold  (the  temperature  often  passing  below  the  freezing  point 
of  mercury),  drowning  by  falling  through  the  ice  of  early  winter,  or  by 
the  capsizing  of  a  canoe;  or  worse  still  through  being  lost  in  the  woods 
and  perishing  slowly  from  starvation. 

This  early  experience  of  mine  in  railroading,  together  with  still 
earlier  experiences  in  camping  out,  gave  me  such  a  taste  for  bush  life 
that  even  today  I  would  rather  spend  one  month  in  hunting  and  fishing 
among  the  Rocky  Mountains  ithan  twelve  months  on  a  pleasure  trip  in 
Europe. 

But  to  return  to  the  question  of  compensation  for  services  imme- 
diately after  graduation.  There  are  various  lines  of  engineering  where 
an  inexperienced  man  can  earn  a  living  at  office  work,  but  the  pay  is 
necessarily  small ;  because  the  work  can  be  done  by  cheap  draftsmen 
who  are  content  to  accept  a  small  wage,  and  are  in  truth  generally  worth 
no  more  than  they  get.  Such  positions  will  eventually  lead  to  something 
higher,  but  the  young  engineer  will  be  compelled  to  do  a  great  deal  of 
drudgery  in  order  to  earn  the  money  which  his  employer  pays  him. 
In  any  case,  though,  an  engineer  needs  sufficient  experience  in  draft- 
ing to  enable  him  to  learn  how  to  put  his  ideas  on  paper  rapidly,  and  how 
to  make  a  presentable  drawing,  consequently  such  experience  is  bene- 
ficial ;  'but  one  should  avoid  having  too  much  of  it,  in  order  not  to  be- 
come a  mere  drafting  machine. 

But  now  let  us  suppose  that  our  new  alumnus  enters  the  office  of 
an  engineer  who  is  doing  a  large  amount  of  practical  work  in  one  of  the 
higher  branches  of  engineering,  what  do  you  suppose  his  services  are 
really  worth  to  his  employer?  Candidly,  except  in  most  uncommon 
cases,  they  are  worth  absolutely  nothing ;  yes,  oftentimes  less  than  noth- 


WADDELL.  361 

ing,  because  not  only  has  a  great  deal  of  his  work  to  be  done  over  again, 
but  also  his  employer  has  to  devote  considerable  time  to  his  instruction 
in  fundamental  principles  and  practical  methods,  one  day  of  which  time 
is  worth  in  dollars  and  cents  more  than  a  whole  month  of  the  young 
man's  service.  But  see  what  the  young  man  is  gaining — not  a  day,  not 
an  hour  passes  without  his  learning  a  number  of  valuable  principles, 
facts,  and  methods,  so  that  at  the  end  of  a  month  he  will  have  acquired 
a  greater  amount  of  valuable  knowledge  than  he  would  have  obtained 
in  a  year  when  working  on  a  fair  salary  at  routine  work.  In  such  an 
office  the  newcomer  who  has  had  no  practical  experience  seldom  receives 
any  salary;  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  in  this  country  an  in- 
experienced young  man  will  have  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  working  in 
such  an  office.  This  has  been  the  custom  for  many  years  in  England,  but 
it  is  a  custom  that  has  been  abused  by  the  employers,  who  have  thus 
brought  the  system  of  apprenticeship  into  ill  repute. 

And  now  have  I  said  enough  to  convince  you  of  the  correctness  of 
my  statement  that  "the  true  ultimate  value  of  any  position  offered  to 
the  newly  fledged  engineer  is  an  inverse  function  of  the  salary  paid?"  I 
shall  leave  each  one  of  you  to  answer  this  question  for  himself,  after 
thinking  over  at  his  leisure  what  I  have  said  on  the  subject. 

Now  let  us  take  up  the  question  which  each  of  you  has  undoubted- 
ly propounded  to  himself  many  times  of  late,  viz.,  "What  branch  of 
engineering  shall  I  adopt  as  my  life's  work?"  You  have  found  it  a  dif- 
ficult one  to  answer — have  you  not?  I  do  not  see  how  it  could  well  be 
otherwise;  for  you  have  as  yet  had  very  little  opportunity  to  see  what 
the  various  branches  of  the  profession  are  like,  and  of  what  their  work 
consists.  Some  of  you  may  be  able  to  answer  the  question  to-day  to 
your  satisfaction,  or  at  least  you  may  think  you  can,  but  the  majority 
of  you  have  been  unable  to  make  up  your  minds.  In  my  opinion,  it  is 
not  advisable  for  you  to  try  to  do  so  at  present.  This  is  no  time  for 
you  to  choose  a  specialty;  ana  even  if  you  do  choose  one,  you  ought 
not  to  settle  down  now  to  practice  it  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  work. 
The  old  definition  of  an  engineer,  viz.,  "a  man  who  knows  a  great  deal 
about  something,  and  something  about  everything,"  was  not  a  bad  one, 
and  still  holds  good  even  in  these  days  of  specialties.  There  is  no 
branch  of  engineering  that  is  separate  and  distinct  from  all  other 
branches,  consequently  the  more  general  the  experience  obtained  in 
youth,  the  greater  will  be  a  man's  capacity  and  the  broader  his  mental 
grasp  during  his  best  working  years.  On  this  account  I  would  advise 
all  of  you  who  can  afford  to  do  so,  to  spend  a  few  months,  or  at  most 
a  year,  on  one  class  of  work,  mastering  as  many  details  as  possible,  then 
drop  it  and  take  up  another  branch,  and  so  on  until  you  have  obtained 


362  KANSAS    UNIVERSITY   ADDRESS. 

a  wide,  comprehensive,  and  thorough  experience  in  general  engineering. 
Meanwhile,  make  up  your  mind  as  to  what  specialty  you  will  choose,  or 
at  least  as  to  what  line  of  engineering  you  will  follow;  and  as  soon  as 
you  have  decided  finally,  let  your  studies  and  practice  tend  continually 
more  and  more  toward  that  chosen  line,  until  eventually  you  abandon  all 
others  for  it  and  make  it  your  life's  work.  Be  content  for  a  while  to 
earn  a  bare  living,  provided  that  you  are  obtaining  the  experience  you 
desire.  If  you  do  this,  take  my  word  for  it,  you  will  find  that  at  middle 
life  you  will  outrank  professionally  those  who  started  in  with  you  but 
who  adopted  the  policy  of  confining  themselves  to  one  line  of  work  and 
thought,  thus  rendering  themselves  men  of  one  idea  or  rather  one  set 
of  ideas. 

Some  of  you,  perhaps,  on  account  of  pecuniary  obligations,  con- 
tracted in  obtaining  your  education,  or  family  responsibilities,  cannot 
take  this  advice;  but  will  have  from  force  of  circumstances  to  settle 
down  in  one  place  with  the  object  of  earning  as  quickly  as  possible  an 
income  that  will  suffice  to  pay  off  your  indebtedness  or  maintain  your 
family.  If  there  be  any  of  you  so  situated,  I  would  urge  upon  you  the 
importance  of  extensive  technical  reading  in  other  branches  of  the  pro- 
fession than  the  one  in  which  you  engage,  in  order  that  you  may  pre- 
vent yourselves  from  becoming  fossilized  and  incapable  of  taking  inter- 
est in  anything  outside  of  your  special  line  of  work. 

To  all  of  you  I  would  say,  "Don't  leave  school  with  the  idea  that  you 
have  completed  your  technical  education;  for,  no  matter  how  thorough 
your  course  may  have  been,  your  technical  education  has  merely  begun." 
It  is  true  that  you  have  had  enough  book  learning  to  enable  you  to  earn 
a  living  without  further  study,  but  you  can  never  attain  professional  dis- 
tinction without  continuing  your  studies.  I  recognize  the  fact  that  it  is 
quite  difficult  to  carry  on  a  course  of  technical  reading  when  one  has  to 
work  long  hours  in  either  the  office  or  the  field,  but  I  have  proved  by  per- 
sonal experience  that  it  is  practicable.  The  method  that  I  adopted  was 
to  take  a  certain  treatise,  mathematical  or  otherwise,  and  arrange  to  read 
it  through  thoroughly  and  understandingly  in  a  certain  number  of  days, 
laying  out  beforehand  the  amount  of  each  day's  reading,  and  basing  it 
upon  the  average  time  that  I  had  to  spare  and  the  character  of  the  book. 
If  for  any  reason  I  failed  to  complete  the  reading  allotted  for  any  day,  I 
read  an  extra  amount  the  next  day,  and  sometimes  read  ahead  of  my  al- 
lowance so  as  to  anticipate  possible  interference  with  my  plans.  In  this 
way  I  accomplished  the  entire  reading  in  the  allotted  time ;  and  it  paid. 
It  is  a  good  practice  to  carry  in  one's  pocket  some  technical  book  to  read 
at  odd  moments,  for  instance,  during  the  noon  hour  in  the  field  or  while 
waiting  for  a  railway  train  or  even  while  traveling  on  the  cars,  although 


WADDELL.  363 

I  cannot  really  commend  the  latter  practice  because  of  its  injurious  effect 
upon  the  eyes. 

It  is  essential  that  you  read  the  principal  technical  newspapers  and 
periodicals  in  order  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times,  also  the  transactions  of  the 
leading  engineering  societies,  especially  those  papers  therein  which  treat 
of  subjects  allied  to  your  line  of  work.  There  is  one  point  on  which 
I  wish  to  caution  you,  viz.,  that  an  article  is  not  necessarily  valuable  be- 
cause it  is  composed  wholly  or  partially  of  mathematics.  As  a  rule,  most 
of  the  mathematical  papers  on  engineering  subjects  that  one  runs  across 
are  mere  rubbish ;  but  occasionally  a  really  good  mathematical  engineer- 
ing paper  appears ;  and  this  ought  to  be  read.  After  a  little  experience 
you  will  find  no  difficulty  in  sifting  the  wheat  from  the  chaff.  Do  not 
misunderstand  me  in  this  matter  of  mathematics,  for  I  would  be  the  last 
one  to  advocate  abandoning  the  study  of  that  science  after  graduation. 
I  merely  wish  to  warn  you  against  wasting  valuable  time  on  investiga- 
tions which  are  too  often  based  on  false  assumptions,  or  that  treat  of 
matters  which  could  be  settled  more  simply  in  some  other  manner. 

In  determining  upon  a  course  of  reading,  one  should  not  confine  him- 
self entirely  to  technical  books  and  papers,  but  should  choose  some  stand- 
ard literary  works  for  the  purpose  of  improving  his  style  in  writing; 
for,  alas!  it  must  be  confessed  that  most  writers  on  engineerng  subjects 
have  a  great  deal  to  learn  concerning  correct  literary  style. 

In  my  opinion,  it  is  the  duty  of  each  member  of  the  engineering  pro- 
fession to  add  his  mite  to  engineering  literature;  although  one  should 
never  write  a  book  or  paper  merely  for  the  sake  of  producing  some- 
thing. The  most  valuable  information  that  the  profession  possesses  is 
to  be  found  in  papers  published  by  engineering  societies,  and  describing 
works  completed,  the  difficulties  encountered  during  construction,  and 
the  methods  adopted  for  doing  the  work.  Each  of  these  papers,  to- 
gether with  the  discussions  evoked  by  them,  not  only  marks  a  step  in 
constructive  progress,  but  also  indicates  how  the  next  steps  should  be 
taken.  Abstract  papers  or  those  of  a  generalizing  nature  are  also  of  the 
greatest  value ;  but  there  are  only  a  few  men  who  are  competent  to 
prepare  such  papers,  consequently  their  number  should  be  limited.  It 
takes  a  bold  man  to  write  such  a  paper;  and  he  is  likely  to  get  into 
trouble  because  of  it,  hence  I  should  advise  you  to  confine  your  literary 
efforts  to  descriptions  of  work  done  or  the  treatment  of  minor  details 
until  your  experience  has  accumulated  sufficiently  to  warrant  you  in 
an  endeavor  to  generalize. 

In  preparing  engineering  papers,  cultivate  a  clear,  terse,  and  con- 
cise literary  style,  so  as  to  express  your  ideas  in  the  fewest  words  con- 
sistent with  a  due  consideration  for  fluency  and  elegance  of  diction. 


364  KANSAS    UNIVERSITY   ADDRESS. 

Cut  out  all  padding  from  your  writings,  because  engineers  are  too  busy 
to  spare  time  to  read  anything  that  is  unnecessary.  The  proper  age  at 
which  to  commence  writing  technical  papers  is  not  easy  to  fix,  but  in 
general  it  is  safe  to  advise  that  one's  early  efforts  be  presented  to  minor 
or  local  engineering  societies ;  then  if  these  be  well  received,  future 
papers  may  be  presented  to  the  engineering  periodicals  or  to  the  national 
engineering  societies.  There  is  nothing  which  a  young  engineer  can 
do  that  will  advance  his  professional  standing  so  much  as  the  writing 
of  a  good,  sound  technical  article  for  publication;  and  there  is  nothing 
that  he  can  do  which  is  more  detrimental  to  his  reputation  than  to  write 
an  incorrect  or  weak  one.  When  contemplating  the  writing  of  a  paper, 
it  is  a  good  plan  to  ask  one's  self  these  questions :  "Is  this  paper  really 
needed?"  "Will  it  fill  a  gap?"  and  "Will  it  prove  useful  to  the  profes- 
sion?" If  the  answers  be  in  the  affirmative,  write  the  paper;  if  not, 
don't. 

As  for  the  writing  of  a  technical  book,  better  postpone  such  work 
until  you  have  had  at  least  eight  or  ten  years'  experience ;  and  do  not 
even  then  undertake  it,  unless  you  see  that  there  is  a  need  for  such  a 
treatise  as  you  contemplate  writing,  and  that  you  have  exactly  the  right 
information  to  present  to  the  profession. 

While  it  is  true  that  there  are  a  great  many  technical  books  pub- 
lished which  should  never  have  been  written,  it  is  equally  true  that 
technical  literature  is  far  behind  engineering  practice,  and  that  there 
never  was  a  time  when  sound  engineering  treatises,  prepared  by 
thoroughly  posted,  practical,  and  educated  writers,  were  as  much  need- 
ed as  they  are  to-day.  You  see,  therefore,  that  for  those  of  you  who  have 
literary  tastes  and  tendencies,  there  is  plenty  of  occupation  ahead.  Un- 
fortunately, there  is  no  money  to  be  gained  directly  in  such  work;  but 
on  the  other  hand  there  is  reputation  to  be  made,  and  that  means  even- 
tually money,  although,  it  is  a  mistake  to  connect  the  two  at  all  closely 
even  in  one's  thoughts.  Professional  reputation  in  itself  ought  to  be 
sufficient  incentive  for  a  young  engineer  of  the  right  sort;  but  the  fact 
that  the  obtaining  of  it  will  ensure  pecuniary  success  is  undoubtedly  an 
extra  stimulus  to  exertion. 

Let  me  advise  you  to  pay  special  attention  to  the  study  of  specifica- 
tions and  contracts  for  engineering  works,  and  to  learn  how  to  prepare 
them  for  yourselves.  You  can  learn  readily  the  style  of  such  documents, 
but  it  takes  years  of  experience  to  enable  one  to  prepare  them  so  that 
they  shall  cover  the  entire  ground  in  a  perfectly  satisfactory  manner. 
The  more  experienced  an  engineer  the  more  thorough  will  be  the  speci- 
fications that  he  writes ;  but  from  this  it  does  not  follow  that  in  compar- 
ing specifications  prepared  by  two  engineers  their  values  will  vary  di- 


WADDELL.  365 

rectly  as  the  amounts  of  experience  of  the  writers;  because  some  engi- 
neers seem  to  be  unable  ever  to  learn  to  write  good  specifications.  This 
is  due  to  a  want  of  literary  training  in  their  early  education ;  and  a  most 
deplorable  and  grievous  fault  it  is. 

Post  yourselves  on  legal  decisions  of  interest  to  engineers,  and  let 
some  of  your  miscellaneous  reading  include  the  laws  of  contracts. 

Study  business  methods  as  much  as  possible,  and  learn  how  accounts 
should  be  kept.  These  things  are  important,  and  they  need  not  demand 
very  much  time ;  because  with  all  the  mental  training  you  have  had, 
and  will  have  in  your  practice,  you  ought  to  grasp  readily  all  such  com- 
paratively simple  matters.  A  good  way  to  master  them  is  to  consult 
with  men  of  business,  bookkeepers,  etc.,  with  whom  your  work  throws 
you  in  contact.  They  can  show  you  often  in  a  few  minutes  what  might 
take  you  hours  to  study  out  by  yourselves. 

And  here  let  me  give  you  a  little  piece  of  sound  advice.  Never  be 
too  proud  to  learn  from  the  most  ignorant.  Even  the  navvy  who  handles 
a  pick  and  shovel  can  give  a  young  engineer  valuable  information  con- 
cerning earthwork;  and  the  stonecutter  and  quarryman  will  generally 
be  found  well  posted  on  many  matters  of  importance  in  masonry  con- 
struction that  are  not  treated  in  the  text  books. 

Whenever  you  have  an  opportunity,  study  how  to  manage  men,  and 
how  to  get  the  greatest  amount  of  useful  work  out  of  the  workmen.  A 
little  tact  will  often  accomplish  results  that  could  not  be  obtained  in  any 
other  way  than  by  its  use.  While  it  is  necessary  to  be  firm  in  dealing 
with  workmen,  and  in  fact  with  all  employees,  it  is  well  to  treat  them 
reasonably  and  not  to  lay  down  the  law  too  severely.  The  better  the 
understanding  between  employer  and  employees,  the  greater  will  be  the 
amount  of  work  accomplished. 

Post  yourselves  concerning  the  money  values  of  all  kinds  of  engi- 
neering construction;  nothing  gives  the  general  public  more  confidence 
in  an  engineer's  ability  than  to  perceive  that  he  is  well  versed  in  the 
cost  of  all  kinds  of  work. 

Immediately  after  graduating  each  one  of  you  should  enter  the 
American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers  as  a  Junior,  and  should  get  his 
grade  advanced  to  that  of  Associate  Member,  and  finally  to  that  of  Mem- 
ber, as  soon  as  he  can  qualify.  As  a  member  of  any  grade  in  that 
Society  you  have  the  right  to  take  part  in  the  discussion  of  any  paper, 
and  to  present  to  the  Board  of  Direction  for  acceptance  any  paper  of 
your  own.  You  are  also  entitled  to  receive  the  Transactions  of  the 
Society  and  to  attend  all  of  its  meetings. 

If  you  are  stationed  for  any  length  of  time  in  any  city  where  there 
is  a  local  engineering  society,  it  will  pay  you  to  join  it.  and  to  take  as 


366  KANSAS   UNIVERSITY  ADDRESS. 

active   a   part   in  the   proceedings    as    your   practical    experience    will 
warrant. 

You  will  find  that  all  through  life  it  will  pay  you  to  make  for  future 
reference  systematic  notes  concerning  not  only  your  own  work,  but  also 
that  of  others;  but  to  be  of  any  practical  value  these  notes  should  be 
transferred  from  time  to  time  to  an  index  book,  so  that  any  particular 
subject  can  at  any  time  be  found  without  delay.  It  is  very  important 
to  know  where  to  look  for  any  required  published  information,  and  for 
this  the  various  indices  which  have  recently  been  issued  will  be  found 
valuable. 

After  finishing  any  large  piece  of  work,  and  while  it  is  still  fresh  in 
your  mind,  it  is  well  to  write  out  an  epitome  of  knowledge  gained  on  it, 
indicating  the  methods  used,  improvements  to  be  made  in  them  on  future 
work  of  a  similar  character,  mistakes  to  be  avoided,  etc.,  then  have  a 
number  of  copies  of  this  struck  off  on  a  typewriter  to  keep  for  future 
reference  for  yourself  and  perhaps  for  others. 

In  my  practice  I  have  found  it  very  convenient  to  carry  in  the  pocket 
a  note  book  for  recording  "things  to  be  done,"  so  that  whenever  a  new 
idea  strikes  me,  or  when  I  think  of  something  that  I  wish  to  do,  I  make 
a  note  of  it  on  a  list ;  and  whenever  I  finish  doing  anything  so  recorded 
I  draw  a  line  through  the  item..  When  the  list  becomes  too  much  erased, 
I  prepare  a  new  one  by  collecting  the  items  that  have  not  been  crossed 
out.  By  the  use  of  such  a  list  I  find  that  I  can  accomplish  a  great  deal 
more  than  I  could  had  I  nothing  but  my  memory  to  rely  upon ;  for  when 
I  have  an  idle  minute,  which,  by  the  way,  is  not  very  often,  I  pull  out 
my  note  book  and  see  what  there  is  that  I  can  do.  I  would  suggest  that 
vou  give  this  method  a  fair  trial. 

Some  engineers  believe  in  keeping  a  diary.  I  do  theoretically — but 
practically  I  have  failed  to  keep  one,  although  sometimes  I  wish  I 
could  remember  what  I  was  doing  on  a  certain  day,  and  cannot.  It 
would  be  well  to  give  the  diary  a  trial  also. 

You  will  find  as  you  go  through  life  that  earnestness  of  purpose  is 
the  main-spring  of  success,  and  that  if  you  set  your  mind  on  attaining 
any  object  within  reason,  you  will,  if  you  keep  on  trying,  eventually  suc- 
ceed in  attaining  it.  I  am  a  firm  believer  hi  the  French  proverb  "Tout 
vient  a  celui  qui  salt  attendre,"  because  I  have  tested  it,  and  have  never 
yet  found  it  fail  to  be  correct. 

In  all  your  work  develop  and  employ  constantly  such  a  perfect  sys- 
tem of  checking  and  counter-checking  as  will  render  you  as  nearly  abso- 
lutely proof  against  making  mistakes  as  it  is  possible  for  fallible  humani- 
ty to  become.  By  so  doing  you  will  save  yourselves  infinite  worry  and 
trouble.  I  know  of  no  more  unpleasant  sensation  than  that  which  one 


WADDELL.  367 

experiences  immediately  after  ascertaining  that  he  has  made  a  blunder; 
and,  moreover,  the  sensation  does  not  pass  away  as  quickly  as  one  might 
wish.  I  have  known  cases  in  which  the  duration  extended  over  years. 

Do  not  be  discouraged  by  failure,  but  endeavor  to  profit  by  it;  and 
do  not  be  afraid  to  tell  brother  engineers  of  your  failures.  It  will  do 
you  no  harm,  -and  may  do  them  good.  It  takes  a  brave  man  to  acknowl- 
edge a  mistake  or  a  failure,  but  a  man  who  is  deficient  in  that  kind 
of  courage  would  do  well  to  keep  out  of  the  engineering  profession. 
Mistakes  of  both  oneself  and  assistants  are  the  bete  noire  of  a  conscien- 
tious engineer,  but  I  find  that  the  longer  one  is  in  practice  the  fewer 
mistakes  will  escape  his  observation. 

Become  acquainted  with  as  many  engineers  as  possible,  and  try  to 
establish  yourselves  on  such  a  friendly  footing  with  a  few  prominent 
members  of  the  profession  that  you  can  occasionally  go  to  them  for 
advice.  It  is  a  fact  that  if  an  engineer  of  established  reputation  takes 
a  personal  interest  in  any  bright,  active,  energetic,  and  ambitious  young 
engineer,  he  can  be  of  the  greatest  assistance  to  him,  and  can  help  him 
to  advance  with  almost  phenomenal  rapidity  in  the  profession. 

Should  you  desire  at  any  time  to  obtain  some  general  knowledge  that 
cannot  be  found  in  print,  do  not  hesitate  to  ask  other  engineers  for  it. 
The  chances  are  that  it  will  be  given  to  you  most  cordially ;  for  any  pro- 
fessional man  of  the  right  stamp  is  always  glad  to  help  a  brother  engi- 
neer with  advice  and  to  give  him  the  benefit  of  his  greater  experience. 
It  may  happen  occasionally,  though,  that  you  will  be  snubbed.  Unfor- 
tunately, one  cannot  make  such  a  sweeping  statement  concerning  engi- 
neers as  it  is  customary  to  make  concerning  sportsmen,  viz.,  that  "all 
sportsmen  are  good  fellows."  I  will  say  this,  however,  that  as  far  as  my 
personal  experience  is  concerned  "most  engineers  are  good  fellows," 
and  I  think  you  will  find  that  there  is  less  jealousy  and  more  good  fellow- 
ship among  engineers  than  among  the  members  of  any  other  profession. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  touch  upon  the  converse  of  this, 
viz.,  that  you  should  be  ever  ready  to  aid  a  brother  engineer  in  every 
way  that  lies  in  your  power. 

Avoid  all  petty  professional  jealousies,  and  remember  that  to  rise  in 
the  world  it  is  not  necessary  to  push  others  down.  If  it  were  for  no  other 
reason  than  mere  policy,  it  is  generally  better  to  say  a  good  word  for 
another  engineer  than  to  speak  against  him;  but  this  is  no  reason  for 
one's  stultifying  himself  when  asked  if  he  can  recommend  for  a  position 
someone  of  whom  he  does  not  approve.  It  is  too  often  the  case  that 
when  an  engineer  is  discharging  an  employee  for  whom  he  has  no  use, 
he  gives  him  a  written  general  recommendation,  merely  for  the  sake 


368  KANSAS    UNIVERSITY   ADDRESS. 

of  parting  pleasantly.     This  is  a  mistaken  policy;  because  it  tends  to 
detract  from  the  value  of  a):  written  recommendations. 

Assistants  on  engineering  work  may  be  divided  into  two  classes, 
those  who  work  for  the  almighty  dollar,  and  those  who,  as  it  is  termed, 
work  for  glory.  Those  of  the  first  class  adhere  to  certain  fixed  hours, 
and  as  soon  as  quitting  time  comes,  or  a  little  before,  they  get  ready  to 
stop  work  for  the  day.  Moreover  they  always  appear  afraid  of  doing 
too  much  for  their  money.  They  reach  the  climax  of  their  career  when 
they  obtain  a  position  worth  about  five  dollars  per  day.  Those  of  the 
second  class  work  more  for  the  knowledge  and  experience  to  be  obtained 
than  for  the  salary,  and  seem  to  pay  but  little  attention  to  office  hours, 
continuing  their  labors  far  into  the  night  when  interested  in  what  they 
are  doing,  or  when  there  is  any  necessity  for  extra  exertion.  Such  men 
rise  steadily  and  often  rapidly  to  responsible,  well-paid  positions;  and 
the  less  they  say  about  increase  of  salary  the  oftener  it  appears  to  be 
raised.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  advise  you  as  to  which  of  these 
classes  you  should  join. 

Of  course  there  are  times  in  a  man's  professional  career  when  it  may 
be  advisable  for  him  to  assert  himself  and  demand  proper  compensation 
for  his  services,  if  he  thinks  that  they  are  not  adequately  remunerated; 
but  this  should  not  be  during  the  first  few  years  of  his  practice,  when 
he  is  in  reality  serving  his  apprenticeship.  Later  on,  especially  after 
marriage,  when  the  welfare  and  comfort  of  wife  and  children  depend 
upon  the  amount  of  his  earnings,  it  becomes  a  man's  duty  to  look  out  for 
the  dollars. 

And  this  brings  me  to  another  point  upon  which  I  desire  to  touch,  as 
it  is  an  important  one,  viz.,  the  best  age  for  an  engineer  to  marry.  The 
young  man  who  immediately  after  graduating  rushes  blindly  into  matri- 
mony, regardless  of  how  it  will  affect  his  professional  career,  makes  a 
serious  mistake;  for  the  care  of  a  family  will  prevent  him  from  going 
from  one  class  of  work  to  another  in  order  to  obtain  a  varied  experience, 
and  will  tie  him  hand  and  foot,  necessitating  his  grinding  day  after  day 
on  work  that  perhaps  he  detests,  and  on  which  there  is  nothing  more  to 
learn,  because  the  dear  ones  at  home  are  dependent  upon  his  daily  earn- 
ings. If  circumstances  permit,  it  is  well  for  the  young  engineer  to  wait 
until  he  is  twenty-eight  or  thirty  years  old  before  he  puts  on  the  matri- 
monial yoke,  but  it  is  not  advisable  to  delay  much  longer  than  this,  if  he 
intends  ever  to  marry  at  all ;  because  the  longer  he  waits  the  more  set 
in  his  ways  will  he  become,  which  condition,  as  we  all  know,  is  not  com- 
patible with  the  principles  of  American  home  rule. 

Let  me  take  the  liberty  of  advising  you  to  endeavor  always  to 
save  a  portion  of  your  earnings  and  to  invest  it  in  some  good  security 


WADDELL.  369 

which  will  bring  you  in  a  fair  rate  of  interest.  Any  investment  which 
promises  more  than  six  or  eight  per  cent,  should  be  looked  upon  with 
suspicion;  for  while  one  such  scheme  succeeds,  three  others  will  fail. 
You  may  consider  me  an  authority  on  this  point,  as  my  experience  is 
personal  and  has  been  paid  for.  It  may  be  difficult  to  save  money  when 
one  is  traveling  from  place  to  place  obtaining  his  professional  training 
in  the  manner  which  I  have  suggested;  but  still  it  is  practicable,  even 
if  the  amount  be  as  small  as  five  or  ten  dollars  a  month.  Here,  too,  I 
am  speaking  from  experience,  because  as  a  young  man  I  spent  practically, 
all  I  earned,  and  the  time  came  when  I  wished  that  I  had  been  more 
economical.  After  marriage  you  will  find  that  this  matter  of  saving 
money  becomes  an  absolute  necessity,  so  why  not  begin  it  at  once? 
Remember  that  I  do  not  advise  niggardliness  nor  parsimony;  for  such 
attributes  are  incompatible  with  American  manhood ;  but  on  the  other 
hand  extravagance  is  unnecessary  and  uncalled  for. 

I  should  like  to  call  to  your  attention  a  series  of  papers  and  dis- 
cussions on  the  subject  of  "engineering  ethics"  which  the  technical  press 
has  been  publishing  lately.  The  importance  of  this  subject  cannot  be 
over-estimated.  The  engineering  profession  needs  a  code  of  ethics  in 
order  to  raise  itself  in  the  public  opinion  to  the  position  it  ought  to 
occupy.  I  fear  it  is  going  to  take  time  to  establish  such  a  code ;  but  the 
day  will  surely  come  when  we  shall  have  one;  and  then  our  profession 
will  be  recognized  as  the  highest  of  all,  in  that  it  takes  the  lead  in  the 
progress  and  development  of  the  entire  civilized  world.  Until  this  code 
be  established,  there  is  nothing  for  each  of  us  to  do  except  to  have  a  little 
code  for  himself,  consisting  of  a  single  principle,  viz.,  "Do  the  square  deal 
by  everybody  under  all  circumstances."  At  times  it  may  be  difficult  to 
decide  as  to  what  is  exactly  the  best  thing  to  do;  but,  if  one  uses  his 
judgment  and  endeavors  to  put  himself  mentally  in  the  other  man's 
place,  his  decision  cannot  be  far  from  right. 

The  engineer  in  charge  of  construction  stands  in  a  peculiar  relation 
to  both  his  employers  and  the  contractors;  and  the  true  relation  is  not 
generally  recognized.  It  is  that  of  arbitrator,  and  not  that  of  oppressor. 
No  one  who  employs  an  engineer  has  a  right  to  think  that  he  purchases 
that  engineer's  conscience  when  he  pays  him  his  salary.  It  is  as  much 
an  engineer's  business  to  look  out  carefully  for  the  rights  of  the  con- 
tractor as  it  is  to  see  that  his  employers  receive  the  full  value  of  what 
they  pay  for,  and  that  all  work  is  properly  done.  Believe  me,  no  engi- 
neer ever  yet  made  a  success  professionally  by  oppressing  contractors. 
I  consider  it  the  engineer's  duty  to  aid  the  contractor  in  every  legitimate 
manner,  and  to  save  him  expense  whenever  it  is  possible  to  do  so  proper- 
ly. Unless  a  contractor  be  satisfied  with  the  profit  he  is  making  out  of 


370  KANSAS   UNIVERSITY  ADDRESS. 

a  piece  of  work,  the  chances  are  that  he  will  slight  it.  In  letting  work  it 
never  pays  to  award  the  contract  to  any  competitor  for  less  than  actual 
cost  plus  a  living  profit.  The  older  an  engineer  grows,  the  more  con- 
vinced will  he  become  of  the  correctness  of  this  statement. 

Let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  importance  of  systematizing 
your  work.  The  most  successful  engineer  is  he  who  can  obtain  the 
greatest  amount  of  correct  work  out  of  those  whom  he  employs,  and  it 
is  only  by  looking  ahead  and  laying  out  systematically  the  work  of  each 
individual  and  of  the  entire  corps  that  this  can  be  effected. 

Let  me  counsel  each  one  of  you  to  set  for  himself  sooner  or  later 
an  ultimate  object  to  be  accomplished,  and  let  it  be  a  great  one,  but  still 
well  within  the  realms  of  possibility;  and  let  him  ever  strive  toward  its 
attainment.  If  he  succeed,  he  will  be  well  repaid  by  the  satisfaction  of 
feeling  that  he  has  done  some  material  good  for  his  fellow  mortals ;  but 
if  not,  he  will  still  feel  that  he  has  done  his  best,  and  that  his  life  has 
not  been  spent  in  vain. 

But  after  all,  there  are  many  important  things  in  life  for  you  other 
than  professional  advancement  and  success;  although  you  may  judge 
from  my  discourse  that  I  have  forgotten  this,  or  that  I  do  not  even 
recognize  it.  Believe  me,  I  would  by  no  means  counsel  you  to  neglect 
the  many  social  and  other  pleasures  that  are  within  your  reach.  It  is 
bad  policy  to  reduce  one's  self  to  a  mere  working  machine ;  and  if  you  do, 
you  will  be  sure  to  find  that  the  machine  is  likely  to  break  down  or  to 
run  badly  for  want  of  a  little  lubrication.  Every  hard  working  man  is 
entitled  to  an  occasional  holiday;  and  to  do  him  the  most  good  he 
ought  to  spend  it  in  the  manner  which  will  afford  him  the  most  enjoy- 
ment. In  the  end,  no  time  is  lost;  because  the  reviving  effect  of  the 
vacation  will  enable  him  to  work  all  the  harder  when  he  settles  down 
to  business  once  more. 

Again,  a  man  has  certain  obligations  toward  his  fellow  men;  and 
one  of  the  most  important  is  that  he  make  himself  agreeable  and  enter- 
taining when  in  company.  This  he  cannot  often  do,  if  he  be  a  mere 
drudge  and  a  slave  to  his  occupation. 

In  the  rapid  development  of  humanity  which  is  taking  place  at  the 
present  time,  it  is  necessary  that  each  individual  take  a  deep  and  absorb- 
ing interest  in  one  certain  subject;  but  it  is  equally  important  that  the 
people  as  a  whole  concern  themselves  with  a  variety  of  subjects,  thus 
necessitating  that  each  individual  have  a  number  of  topics  in  which  he 
takes  at  least  a  passing  interest. 

Unless  such  were  the  case,  the  whole  mass  of  humanity  would  be 
working  without  any  coherent  purpose,  each  unit  being  independent  of 


WADDELL.  371 

all  the  others,  and  following  a  path  of  its  own  regardless  of  how  that 
path  interferes  with  those  of  the  other  units. 

A  professional  man  is  liable,  on  account  of  the  intense  interest  he 
feels  in  his  work,  to  overlook  these  facts ;  and  it  is  on  this  account  that 
I  make  a  point  of  advising  each  of  you  to  mix  as  much  as  possible  with 
his  fellows,  and  to  endeavor  to  make  himself  appreciated  by  them  as 
something  more  than  simply  a  hard-working  engineer. 


LAST  WORDS  TO  THE  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  SENIORS. 

By 
Dr.  Ira  O.  Baker. 

The  kindly  advice  given  by  Dr.  Baker  to  his  young  friends  who 
were  about  to  lose  his  guiding  care  is  of  extremely  great  importance  and 
value.  It  is  as  good  and  sound  to-day  as  when  it  was  offered  in  1894; 
hence  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  readers  of  this  compilation  of  addresses 
will  derive  much  benefit  from  Dr.  Baker's  wise  and  friendly  words. 

Editors. 


373 


LAST  WORDS  TO  THE  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  SENIORS. 

By 

Dr.  Ira  O.  Baker. 

Address  to  the   Civil  Engineering   Club,  University  of  Illinois, 

June  11,  1894. 

When  the  program  committee  asked  me  if  I  would  present  some- 
thing here  this  morning.  I  immediately  thought  that  perhaps  I  might  use 
the  opportunity  for  a  few  final  words  with  our  graduating  members. 
Frequently  the  circumstances  and  conditions  under  which  anything  is 
said  give  it  an  attention  and  weight  which  it  would  not  otherwise  have. 

When  the  traveler  through  an  unknown  country  comes  to  the 
brow  of  a  hill,  if  he  is  wise  he  surveys  the  landscape,  selects  an  objective 
point  ahead,  decides  upon  his  path  through  the  valley  below,  and  then 
proceeds  step  by  step  to  find  his  way  down  the  hill,  through  the  valley, 
and  up  on  the  other  side.  Obviously  the  time  to  decide  upon  the  path 
through  the  valley  is  when  we  are  upon  the  hill  top,  and  we  are  more 
sure  to  rea^,h  the  goal  by  the  shortest  route  if  we  keep  our  eye  steadily 
fixed  upon  our  mark  ahead. 

You,  members  of  the  graduating  class,  are  upon  a  hill  top  this 
morning.  You  are  shortly  to  break  off  old  relations  and  enter  upon 
new  ones.  Let  us  see  if  we  can  find  a  worthy  objective  point  ahead 
which  shall  serve  as  a  help  and  inspiration  while  you  wend  your  way 
through  the  valley. 

I  am  fully  aware  that  this  is  the  last  time  that  I  shall  ever  address 
you  in  the  relations  of  teacher  and  taught,  and  it  is  with  mixed  feelings 
of  regret  and  pleasure,  of  solicitude  and  anticipation  that  I  bid  you 
adieu ;  and  I  fain  would  reveal  to  you  some  of  the  feeling  that  a  teacher 
has  when  he  sends  his  boys  out  into  the  world  to  test  their  powers — 
and  his.  But  the  occasion  demands  a  higher  motive  than  merely  per- 
sonal pleasure,  so  I  ask  your  kind  indulgence  while  I  try  to  teach  one 
more  lesson.  I  make  this  attempt  knowing  that  the  occasion  and  your 
thoughts  will  more  clearly  reveal  to  you  the  truth  I  wish  to  teach  than 
can 'my  words. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  remind  you  that  recitations  are  ended;  but 
I  do  want  to  urge  upon  you  that  you  do  not  cease  to  be  a  student. 
Whatever  the  kind  and  stress  of  your  occupation,  keep  a  little  time  for 
study  and  reading.  If  your  work  here  has  been  well  done,  you  have  barely 

375 


376  LAST   WORDS    TO   SENIORS. 

reached  that  point  where  you  are  able  to  gain  knowledge  by  self-di- 
rected effort.  '  You  will  doubtless  have  many  painful  illustrations  that 
you  do  not  know  it  all,  but  your  daily  work  will  compel  study  of  the 
practical  details  of  your  business.  You  will  be  compelled  to  get  these 
matters,  or  you  will  not  get  work.  I  expect  you  to  succeed  reasonably 
well  in  these  particulars ;  but  I  desire  to  urge  upon  you  that  you  con- 
tinue to  grow,  to  expand,  to  increase  your  powers.  You  ought  always 
to  have  in  hand  some  subject  upon  which  you  are  doing  thoroughly 
downright  hard  study.  Such  a  course  is  absolutely  necessary  for  in 
tellectual  vigor  and  activity.  In  the  next  few  years  you  ought  to  study 
professional  subjects  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  you  ought  also  to 
broaden  your  education  and  extend  your  horizon  by  the  study  of  scien- 
tific and  literary  and  historical  subjects.  I  have  time  only  to  assert  this 
point,  not  to  prove  it. 

Undoubtedly  you  will  be  tempted  to  say  that  you  haven't  time  for 
such  study,  but  I  say  you  must  make  the  time.  If  I  had  time  I  should 
like  to  illustrate  this  by  giving  you  some  of  the  particulars  of  the  lives 
of  Gladstone,  and  Garfield,  and  Lincoln,  whose  labors  and  cares  were 
simply  prodigious ;  and  yet  they  found  time  for  an  astonishingly  wide 
range  of  reading  and  study.  To  make  this  matter  definite,  let  me  urge 
that  you  regularly  and  conscientiously  give  one-half  hour  each  day  to 
the  study  of  some  subject  which  will  broaden  your  knowledge  and  ex- 
tend your  horizon. 

The  world  moves.  New  problems  are  continually  arising  which 
must  be  solved.  The  state  and  the  nation  have  been  very  liberal  to 
you,  and  have  a  right  to  demand  that  you  shall  meet  these  new  obliga- 
tions when  they  arise.  You  are  expected  to  find  new  and  better  solu- 
tions to  old  problems,  and  to  lead  us  into  unexplored  and  undiscovered 
fields.  You  have  given  to  you  five  talents.  Will  you  lay  them  away  in 
a  napkin,  or  will  you  use  them  and  gain  five  other  talents? 

By  all  means  do  not  fail  to  cultivate  the  ability  to  write  and  speak 
your  mother  tongue  correctly,  forcibly,  and  even  elegantly.  Even  an 
engineer  has  frequent  use  for  this  power,  and  his  ability  as  an  engineer 
is  continually  being  judged  by  his  written  and  spoken  language.  Eads 
is  not  infrequently  ranked  as  the  leading  American  engineer,  but  his 
reputation  as  an  engineer  is  due  as  much  to  his  ability  in  writing  and 
speaking  as  to  his  knowledge  of  engineering. 

One  precaution.  Do  not  become  a  man  of  books  to  the  exclusion 
of  affairs.  Society  is  all  the  time  struggling  with  industrial  questions, 
social  reforms,  and  political  problems  which  you,  having  received  your 
education  as  a  gift  from  the  state,  should  help  to  solve.  I  have  only 
time  to  hint  this. 


BAKER.  377 

In  one  respect  your  free  education  is  liable  to  do  you  harm.*  You 
have  received  information  more  cheaply  in  the  past  than  you  ever  can 
in  the  future.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  spend  your  money  in  travel  to  see 
things  and  men.  There  is  a  wonderful  stimulus  in  whetting  against  other 
men,  particularly  those  engaged  in  the  same  business  as  yourself.  Do  not 
fail  to  use  travel  as  a  means  of  continuing  your  education.  Remember 
that  there  is  a  scattering  abroad  that  increaseth  and  a  withholding  that 
impoverisheth. 

Allow  me  to  offer  a  few  hints  to  guide  you  in  your  intercourse 
with  your  professional  associates. 

1.  Be   patient   and   don't   try   to   get   on   too   fast.     You   may   be 
over-estimating  your  own  abilities.     It  takes  all  summer  to  ripen  the 
best  apples. 

2.  Be  liberal  in  the  measure  of  your  work.     Don't  even  think  of 
excusing  yourself  from  doing  what  you  reasonably  can,  by  saying  that 
you  are  doing  as  much  as  you  are  paid  for.     As  long  as  you  hold  the 
position  and  accept  the  pay,   do  good,  honest,   faithful    work.      If  the 
labor  demanded  is  too  great,  make  a  courteous,  frank,  straightforward 
protest,  or  offer  your  resignation. 

3.  Be    courteous    and    generous    to   your    subordinates.      In    this 
matter  let  the  golden  rule  guide  your  action.    One  of  the  ways  in  which 
this  rule  is  violated  is  in  passing  judgment  upon  the  works  of  others, 
in  the  way  of  fault-finding  and  belittling  them,  picking  flaws,  making 
small  criticisms  of  design  and  method.     Does  any  engineer  imagine  he 
raises  himself  in  the  opinion'  of  others  by  so  doing,  or  in  any  way  ad- 
vances his  own  prospects  of   success?     Criticism   for  the  purpose  of 
suggesting  improvements  is  a  good  thing,  but  criticism  for  any  other 
purpose  is  unworthy  a  true  man.     The  world  on  the  whole  is  fair  in 
its  estimate  of  men;  it  recognizes  the  generous  everywhere,  and  is  just  as 
sure  to  condemn  the  opposite. 

4.  Guard  as  carefully   as   life  itself   a  high   standard   of  profes- 
sional honor  and  integrity : — whatever  the  measure  of  your  professional 
success, — whether  wealth  and  reputation  crown  your  career,  or  disap- 
pointment and  poverty  be  your  constant  and  unwelcome  companions, — 
let  no  taint  of  suspicion  attach  to  any  professional  act  or  utterance.    As 
young  engineers  you  are  nearly  certain  to  have  some  severe  trials  in  this 
matter.      In  his   relations   with   contractors,   in  his   recommendation   of 
patented  or  special  devices,  in  preparing  reports  that  may  influence  the 
markets,  the  engineer  is  liable  to  have  his  judgment  warped  by  subtle 
and  corrupting  influences.    You  will  save  yourself  much  annoyance  and 
possibly  some  danger,  if  you  will  at  all  times  maintain  a  character  of 
unquestionable  integrity.     It  should  not  be  difficult  for  the  conscientious 


378  LAST   WORDS    TO   SENIORS. 

engineer,  jealous  of  his  professional  honor,  to  decide  what  is  right  and 
what  is  wrong. 

Now  I  think  I  can  show  you  an  objective  point  ahead  by  means  of 
which  you  shall  be  able  to  find  a  way  of  safety  and  honor  through  the 
darkest  valley  of  trial  and  temptation.  I  ask,  then,  what  is  your  highest 
aim  as  engineers?  Is  it  to  stand  at  the  head  of  your  profession,  and 
secure  wealth  and  honor?  Or  is  is  scrupulously,  conscientiously,  and 
faithfully  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  positions  in  which  you  are 
placed  ?  If  it  is  the  former,  then  you  have  many  chances  of  failure  to  one 
of  success,  for  such  success  will  often  depend  upon  circumstances  en- 
tirely beyond  your  control.  If  your  highest  ambition  is  conscientiously 
and  faithfully  to  discharge  the  duties  of  your  position,  then  success 
depends  upon  yourself,  for  it  is  assured  by  simple  and  constant  attention 
to  the  requirements  of  each  occasion  as  it  arises. 

Ability,  wealth,  position,  are  all  excellent  things  to  possess.  They 
mean,  or  may  be  made  to  mean,  influence,  weight,  and  power;  but  they 
are  not  the  things  which  determine  the  essential  value  of  a  man.  The1 
true  worth  is  measured  by  his  character;  not  by  his  abilities,  not  by 
his  positions,  not  by  his  successes,  but  by  what  he  himself  is. 

We  may  all  reach  this  most  perfect  manhood  by  simply  doing  all 
our  work  under  the  fullest  appreciation  of  the  meaning  of  that  one 
word  duty.  That  you  may  all  through  your  life  be  actuated  by  this 
high  motive,  is  my  earnest  petition. 


THE  ENGINEER  AS  A  PROFESSIONAL  MAN. 

By 
Nelson  Peter  Lewis,  C.  E. 

The  dicta  of  any  man  who  has  risen  to  high  rank  in  the  engineer- 
ing world  ought  to  command  the  attention  and  respect  of  all  technical 
students  and  young  engineers ;  hence  the  opinions  expressed  herein 
by  M|r.  Lewis,  who  has  risen  gradually  in  America's  metropolis  to  the 
exalted  position  of  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Board  of  Estimates  and  Ap- 
portionment, ought  to  receive  deep  consideration  from  our  readers. 

This  address  was  delivered  in  1910  at  the  Annual  Commencement 
of  the  Thomas  S.  Clarkson  Memorial  School  of  Technology. 

Editors. 


379 


THE  ENGINEER  AS  A  PROFESSIONAL  MAN. 

By 
Nelson  Peter  Lewis,  C.  E. 

If  the  importance  of  a  profession  is  to  be  judged  by  the  number 
of  those  engaged  in  or  preparing  for  it,  by  the  number  of  institutions 
offering  courses  leading  to  it,  or  by  increase  in  the  facilities  and  equip- 
ment needed  for  giving  such  courses,  it  would  not  be  extravagant 
to  say  that  the  engineering  profession  in  its  several  branches  has 
lately  assumed  the  first  rank  in  this  country.  It  is  realized  that  the 
development  of  our  material  resources  is  dependent  in  a  large  degree 
upon  engineers  or  upon  men  with  engineering  training.  A  quarter  of 
a  century  ago  it  is  probable  that  a  majority  of  the  graduates  of  our 
engineering  schools  looked  for  their  first  practical  experience  to  the 
work  of  railway  construction,  or  that  incidental  thereto,  which  was 
very  active  at  that  time  and  which  reached  its  climax  in  1887,  with  a 
record  of  12,878  miles  of  steam  railway  built  during  that  year.  The 
country  having  become  fairly  well  supplied  with  railways,  and  the 
products  of  field,  forest,  and  mine  having  been  brought  within  reach 
of  the  consumer,  the  shipper,  and  the  manufacturer,  there  succeeded 
an  era  of  internal  development,  of  betterment,  of  reclamation,  and  of 
conservation  which  is  now  well  under  way  and  which  will  doubtless 
continue  for  many  years.  The  development  of  power,  its  conversion 
and  transmission ;  increased  facilities  for  transportation ;  the  reclam- 
ation of  arid  lands  through  irrigation  involving  great  impounding 
reservoirs  and  distributing  ditches;  the  improvement  of  existing  and 
the  construction  of  new  waterways;  the  development  of  our  mineral 
resources;  the  creation  of  manufacturing  plants  and  of  great  railway 
and  shipping  terminals ;  the  increasing  use  of  steel  and  concrete  in 
building  construction, — offer  splendid  opportunities  for  the  engineer. 
There  has  lately  been  a  marked  tendency  among  all  civilized  people 
to  concentrate  in  cities,  a  tendency  which  has  caused  surprise  and  which 
to  many  appears  somewhat  alarming.  We  are  inclined  to  think  of 
this  tendency,  as  especially  noticeable  in  the  United  States,  but  such  is 
not  the  case.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  world  movement.  A  compari- 
son of  the  growth  from  1889  to  1900  of  six  German  and  six  American 
cities  shows  surprising  results.  The.  cities  of  each  country  were  selected 
at  random,  and  the  population  of  each  pair  was  about  the  same  in  1880. 

381 


382  ENGINEER  AS  A   PROFESSIONAL   MAN. 

They  are:  Cincinnati  and  Breslau,  Buffalo  and  Cologne,  New  Orleans 
and  Dresden,  Louisville  and  Hanover,  Providence  and  Nuremberg, 
Rochester  and  Chemnitz.  Not  only  has  the  German  city  in  every  in- 
stance increased  more  rapidly  than  the  American  city  of  the  same  size  in 
1880,  but  the  lowest  excess  in  the  rate  of  increase  is  found  to  have  been 
23%  in  the  gain  of  Cologne  over  that  of  Buffalo,  while  in  two  instances 
the  increase  in  population  of  the  German  city  has  been  140%  greater 
than  that  of  the  corresponding  American  city,  namely,  that  of  Dresden 
over  New  Orleans,  and  of  Nuremberg  over  Providence. 

While  this  increase  in  the  population  of  the  German  cities  has 
been  most  remarkable,  the  same  tendency  will  be  found  throughout 
all  Europe,  in  Moscow  and  Warsaw,  in  Vienna  and  Buda  Pest,  in  Rome 
and  Naples,  in  Marseilles  and  Lyons,  in  Brussels  and  Antwerp,  in  Rot- 
terdam and  Amsterdam,  in  Birmingham,  Manchester,  Glasgow,  and 
Belfast ;  while  in  the  New  World  to  the  south  of  us  we  see  the  same 
thing  in  Mexico,  Rio  Janerio,  and  Buenos  Ayres. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  anxiety  manifested  in  some  quar- 
ters of  this  concentration  of  population  in  large  cities.  It  is  often  point- 
ed out  that  many,  if  not  most,  of  the  conspicuously  successful  men  have 
come  from  the  farms,  and  the  cry  has  gone  out — "Back  to  the  farms 
if  we  would  save  our  civilization."  It  is  true  that  a  large  proportion 
of  our  successful  men  have  come  from  the  farms,  but  it  is  in  the  great 
cities  that  they  have  found  the  opportunities  of  which  they  have  been 
able  to  avail  themselves  by  reason  of  the  habits  of  industry,  frugality, 
and  self  denial  which  they  learned  on  the  farms.  Many  of  these  men, 
after  having  attained  success,  are  going  back  to  their  old  homes  with  a 
new  realization  of  their  responsibility  to  their  fellows.  Better  facilities 
for  communication  with  centres  of  population,  the  distribution  of  scien- 
tific information  concerning  improved  methods  of  agriculture,  the  gen- 
eral use  of  the  telephone  and  the  automobile,  are  greatly  improving  the 
conditions  in  the  rural  districts,  but  there  will  be  no  abatement  of  the, 
growth  of  the  cities.  It  is  there  that  the  great  social  and  economic 
problems  of  the  age  must  be  worked  out,  and  from  them  will  emanate 
the  uplifting  influences  which  will  make  the  world  better. 

The  solution  of  the  physical  problems  presented  by  this  great 
urban  development  will  call  for  the  highest  skill  and  the  most  intel- 
ligent effort  of  the  engineer.  Who  is  to  give  our  cities  the  physical 
aspect  which  will  correspond  with  the  important  part  they  are  to  play 
in  the  national  life?  The  architect  who  will  design  buildings,  giving 
them  beauty  and  dignity?  Yes,  but  before  him  must  come  the  engineer 
who  will  create  such  a  plan  that  the  buildings  of  the  architect  may  be 


LEWIS.  383 

seen  to  advantage.  What  would  Washington  have  been  without  its 
L'Enfant,  Paris  without  its  Haussmann? 

Who  is  to  make  our  cities  healthful,  our  brothers  of  the  medical 
profession?  They  will  combat  disease  and  relieve  suffering,  but  pub- 
lic health  depends  not  upon  the  physician,  but  upon  the  man  who  is 
responsible  for  a  pure  and  wholesome  water  supply,  for  an  adequate 
system  of  drainage,  and  for  such  care,  disposition,  or  treatment  of  the 
wastes  of  a  city  that  they  will  not  menace  the  health  of  its  own  people 
or  of  those  of  other  cities.  Comfort  and  decency  depend  upon  the 
proper  cleansing  of  streets  and  disposal  of  household  wastes  without 
unnecessary  offense.  It  was  once  thought  that;  anyone  with  fair  ex- 
ecutive ability  and  the  proper  political  affiliations  could  satisfactorily 
do  work  of  this  kind,  but  the  people  who  pay  taxes  and  expect  results 
are  no  longer  satisfied  with  such  an  arrangement.  The  disposition  or 
destruction  of  wastes  now  calls  for  expert  knowledge,  and  more  and 
more  we  find  technically  trained  men  entrusted  with  such  work. 

The  people  of  our  great  cities  must  be  taught  the  duty  they  owe 
to  the  state,  the  municipality,  and  their  fellows,  and  there  are  many 
great  preachers  and  teachers  to  show  them  this  duty  both  by  precept 
and  example.  But  will  the  people  listen  and  profit  by  this  teaching 
when  they  return  to  homes  in  narrow,  dark  streets,  to  squalid  tene- 
ments where  human  beings  are  herded  together  in  such  a  manner  that 
decent  living  and  intelligent  citizenship  are  well  nigh  impossible?  The 
gospel  of  light  and  air,  of  sanitary  housing  and  clean  streets  will  be  more 
effective  with  the  denizens  of  the  slums  than  any  other  kind  of  preach- 
ing. 

No  human  being  can  be  healthy  and  moral  if  he  has  not  some 
opportunity  for  recreation.  Parks  and  playgrounds  are  therefore  nec- 
essary. You  may  say  that  this  involves  simply  a  selection  of  park 
areas  and  a  sufficient  expenditure  for  their  acquisition  and  improve- 
ment. True,  if  our  parks  are  to  be  laid  out  in  that  way  our  choice 
will  be  restricted  to  such  sites  as  are  available,  while  in  order  to  supply 
breathing  spaces  in  densely  built  up  sections,  valuable  improvements 
must  be  destroyed  at  enormous  expense.  Suppose,  on  the  other  hand, 
our  park  reservations  are  included  in  the  original  city  plan  with  due 
regard  for  their  natural  beauty  and  their  accessibility,  how  much  more 
satisfactorily  will  be  the  result  and  how  much  expense  will  be  saved! 

Our  cities  require  ease  of  transportation  by  horse-drawn  or  self- 
propelled  vehicles  and  by  railways.  If  the  city  is  a  port,  provision 
must  be  made  for  such  adequate  wharves  and  piers  with  railroad  con- 
nections as  will  attract  and  retain  commerce.  Not  only  the  planning 
and  construction  of  these  various  improvements  that  go  to  make  up 


384  ENGINEER  AS  A   PROFESSIONAL   MAN. 

the  modern  city,  but  the  administration  of  the  departments  and  bureaus 
controlling  them  are  becoming  more  and  more  completely  delegated  to 
the  engineer.  A  former  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  testifying 
before  a  legislative  committee  made  the  statement  that  if  he  were  to 
be  confined  in  his  selection  of  heads  of  Departments  to  men  who  could 
assume  their  duties  and  be  prepared  at  once  to  administer  the  work  of 
the  several  Departments  efficiently,  without  devoting  a  considerable  part 
of  their  term  of  office  to  learning  what  was  expected  of  them,  he  would 
be  obliged  in  a  large  proportion  of  cases  to  name  civil  engineers. 

It  needs  no  argument  beyond  a  mere  recital  of  the  facts  to  show 
that  abundant  opportunities  await  men  of  technical-  training  who  will 
rise  to  the  occasion. 

What  sort  of  training  is  best  calculated  to  produce  engineers  who 
will  be  capable  of  assuming  and  satisfactorily  performing  the  various 
duties  which  have  been  hinted  at  rather  than  enumerated?  There 
are  characteristics  which  are  sometimes  due  to  very  early  training  or 
even  to  heredity,  while  they  also  may  be  acquired  or  developed  through 
collegiate  education.  It  is  difficult  to  name  those  which  are  of  peculiar 
value  to  the  engineer  and  which  should  be  the  special  objects  of  his 
training,  but  there  are  some  to  which  particular  importance  may  be 
attached,  and  among  these  I  would  lay  special  emphasis  upon  the 
following : 

Industry,  intelligent  application,  accuracy  both  in  work  and  ex- 
pression, self  reliance,  tactfulness,  integrity. 

These  are  all  qualities  which  every  professional  man  hopes  to 
possess  or  acquire.  Not  one  of  them  will  he  consider  unimportant  or 
even  non-essential,  but  combined  they  spell  success, — they  are  a  guaran- 
tee of  achievement.  For  their  attainment  the  ordinary  course  in  college 
or  technical  school  will  not  suffice.  Some  of  them  are  to  be  acquired- 
only  in  the  harder  school  of  life  and  through  intimate  contact  witli  one's' 
fellows.  But  let  us  be  somewhat  more  precise  in  our  definitions  and 
take  the  time  to  consider  what  each  one  of  them  means  and  to  realize 
its  importance.  The  necessity  of  industry  is  so  important  that  it  is 
scarcely  worthy  of  emphasis.  No  success  can  be  achieved  without  it. 
The  world's  prizes  do  not  go  to  the  drones  and  the  laggards,  but  to 
those  who  devote  their  best  energies  and  abilities  to  the  tasks  before 
them,  whether  they  be  great  and  calculated  to  arouse  enthusiasm  or 
apparently  unimportant  and  suggest  drudgery. 

A  fair  degree  of  industry  is  essential  successfully  to  complete  the 
course  in  a  modern  engineering  school.  Without  it  the  student  knows 
that  he  cannot  secure  the  coveted  degree,  but  when  the  young  graduate 
gets  his  first  position  it  will  soon  be  apparent  whether  or  not  he  is  in- 


LEWIS.  385 

dustrious  from  habit.  If  he  is  content  to  render  the  least  service  pos- 
sible to  enable  him  to  secure  his  monthly  salary  check,  he  is  not  in- 
dustrious ;  it  will  not  take  his  employer  long  to  discover  the  fact,  and  his 
promotion  will  be  slow.  It  is  not  quixotic  to  say  that  a  young  man 
should  consider  that  day  ill  spent  in  which  he  has  not  rendered  to  his 
employer  service  of  a  value  greater  than  the  pay  which  he  is  to  re- 
ceive. 

But  mere  dogged  application  will  not  lead  to  the  greatest  success 
unless  combined  with  intelligent  application,  which  is  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  industry  guided  by  good  judgment  and  aided  by  a  sense 
of  proportion  or  perspective. 

To  fritter  away  one's  time  and  exhaust  one's  energies  over  unim- 
portant details  that  a  subordinate  can  do  just  as  well,  is  neither  wise  nor 
commendable.  Do  not  interpret  this  as  encouragement  of  indifference 
to  minor  details.  Every  young  engineer  at  the  beginning  of  his  career 
must  expect  to  do  his  full  share  of  seemingly  trivial  things,  but  when 
the  time  comes  for  him  to  assume  greater  responsibilities  he  should  look 
at  them  in  a  broader  way.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  accuracy  of 
the  work  of  subordinates  should  be  taken  for  granted,  but  there  are 
other  ways  of  determining  this  than  doing  it  all  over  again  one's  self, 
When  the  accuracy  and  reliability  of  subordinates  have  been  demon- 
strated, their  results  can  be  accepted  as  the  foundation  upon  which  more 
important  conclusions  may  be  predicated. 

There  are  emergencies  when  concentrated  effort  continued  through 
day  and  night  almost  to  the  point  of  exhaustion  are  required  to  ac- 
complish important  results,  and  the  resiliency  of  youth  is  such  that  a 
moderate  rest  will  restore  the  faculties  to  their  normal  condition, 
but  habitual  intemperance  in  work  is  sometimes  as  injurious  as  other 
excesses.  When  the  brain  is  tired  and  fails  to  respond,  it  is  time  for 
recreation  and  diversion.  There  are  some  men  who  boast  that  they 
have  never  taken  a  vacation,  but  if  the  amount  and  quality  of  their 
work  were  carefully  estimated,  it  would  probably  appear  that  it  would 
have  been  better  both  for  themselves  and  their  employers  if  they  had 
done  so. 

Inaccuracy  is,  perhaps,  the  greatest  sin  next  to  dishonesty,  of 
which  the  engineer  is  capable.  Its  results  are  waste  of  money,  dan- 
ger, accident,  and  frequently  loss  of  life.  Failing  bridges,  broken 
dams,  collapsed  buildings,  are  likely  to  follow  the  misplacing  of  a 
decimal  point  or  the  omission  of  some  essential  in  computation.  But 
accuracy  in  calculation  or  in  execution  are  not  sufficient  to  avoid  trouble. 
Accuracy  in  expressing  conclusions,  clearness  in  recommendations,  and 
precision  in  describing  the  work  to  be  done  in  contract  and  specification, 


386  ENGINEER  AS  A   PROFESSIONAL   MAN. 

are  of  the  utmost  importance.  Serious  loss  and  an  enormous  amount 
of  litigation  result  from  looseness  and  lack  of  clearness  in  description  of 
the  work  to  be  done  and  the  relative  obligations  to  be  assumed  by  own- 
er and  contractor  in  the  specifications  commonly  prepared  by  engineers 
and  architects.  Purely  technical  training  may  result  in  accurate  think- 
ing through  the  medium  of  formulae  and  in  a  proper  regard  for  inexor- 
able natural  laws,  but  it  will  not  give  facility  of  expression  in  language 
which  cannot  be  misunderstood.  This  is  an  accomplishment  which  can 
only  be  acquired  by  what  are  known  as  the  culture  studies  and  by  more 
or  less  familiarity  with  good  literature.  A  curriculum  which  is  con- 
spicuous by  the  absence  of  such  culture  courses,  or  which  has  not  been 
preceded  by  a  fairly  liberal  training  is  not  likely  to  produce  the  kind 
of  engineers  we  are  endeavoring  to  describe. 

Self-Reliance.  This  does  not  mean  self-satisfaction  or  self-con- 
ceit, nor  does  it  imply  unwillingness  to  take  advice  or  profit  by  the 
opinions  and  experiences  of  others.  It  means  that  after  having  se- 
cured the  available  information  upon  the  subject  under  consideration, 
after  being  assured  as  to  the  soundness  of  theory  and  having  tested 
the  accuracy  of  calculation,  one's  conclusions  should  be  defended  with 
confidence  and  enthusiasm.  It  means,  further,  that  when  in  trouble 
the  first  thing  to  do  is  not  to  call  for  help,  but  to  get  oneself  out  of 
his  trouble  as  quickly  as  possible.  The  man  who  does  not  believe  in 
himself  and  in  the  soundness  of  his  theories  and  conclusions  will  find 
it  difficult  to  induce  others  to  accept  them. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  assets  in  any  professional  or  business 
career  is  tactfulness,  and  to  no  one  is  it  of  greater  value  than  to  the 
engineer.  His  theory  may  be  all  right,  his  plans  may  be  excellent, 
his  projects  may  be  well  conceived  and  carefully  thought  out,  but  it 
may  be  presented  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  not  appeal  to  a  superior 
officer,  a  commission,  or  a  board  of  directors.  Natural  difficulties  may 
be  overcome  by  technical  skill  or  by  sheer  force  of  energy  and  persis- 
tence, but  prejudices  and  antagonisms  may  be  aroused  which  will  prove 
insurmountable.  In  dealing  with  men  as  with  nature,  it  is  well  to  follow 
the  lines  of  least  resistance.  If  incredulity  be  met  with  scorn,  if  irrele- 
vant questions  be  ignored  or  answered  with  contempt,  if  objection  be 
treated  with  impatience,  the  best  matured  plans  are  apt  to 'come  to 
naught.  It  is  always  possible  to  make  concessions  with  respect  to  non- 
essentials  which  the  layman  is  frequently  unable  to  distinguish  from 
essentials;  in  fact,  it  may  sometimes  be  well  to  have  a  supply  of  non- 
essentials  to  trade  with.  When  a  moral  principle  is  involved,  the  man 
who  will  stand  or  fall  by  it  is  always  to  be  commended,  and  the  instances 
are  rare  in  which  he  will  not  win.  But  it  often  happens  that  we  can- 


LEWIS.  387 

not  get  all  that  we  would  like,  and  in  such  cases  it  is  well  to  get  the 
best  we  can  under  the  circumstances.  You  may  say  that  the  man  who 
will  do  this  is  an  opportunist.  Well,  most  men  who  attain  results  are 
opportunists.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  that  the  tactful  man  is  court- 
eous, considerate  of  others'  opinions  and  even  of  their  prejudices,  is 
willing  to  go  around  rather  than  through  an  obstacle,  and  is  an  oppor- 
tunist. 

The  qualities  which  we  have  considered  may  be  thought  enough 
to  insure  success,  but  to  make  success  substantial  and  well  worth 
attainment,  one  other  is  necessary,  and  that  is  integrity.  Not  honesty 
which  is  merely  good  policy,  not  a  relative  degree  of  rectitude  which  is 
measured  by  that  of  other  professional  or  business  men,  but  a  devotion 
to  the  highest  ideals  of  truth,  honor,  and  justice. 

The  engineer  is  often,  yes,  usually,  called  upon  to  safeguard  the 
interests  of  a  client  which  may  be  an  individual,  a  business  or  public 
service  corporation,  a  State  or  a  Municipality,  and  also  to  act  in  a 
judicial  capacity  between  his  client  and  the  contractor.  It  matters 
not  from  which  of  the  parties  to  the  contract  he  receives  his  compen- 
sation, his  duty  is  to  decide  questions  in  dispute  with  entire  fairness 
and  equity  to  both.  This  is  often  a  trying  position,  and  the  man  who 
occupies  it  is  sometimes  subjected  to  great  temptations  and  subtle 
influences  which  are  not  easily  recognized.  Only  a  keen  sense  of 
honor  and  a  realization  of  his  responsibility  will  guide  a  man  aright  under 
such  circumstances. 

The  engineering  profession  is  an  exacting  one;  he  who  follows  it 
deals  with  natural  laws,  the  infraction  of  which  means  disaster;  his 
deductions  must  be  based  upon  premises  which  are  incontrovertible  and 
which  can  lead  to  but  one  conclusion ;  polemics  and  casuistry  have  no 
place  in  his  mental  equipment.  His  moral  nature  should  reflect  his 
mental  habits,  and  in  all  his  relations  there  should  be  no  compromise  be- 
tween truth  and  falsehood, — between  uprightness  and  moral  obliquity. 
You  may  say  that  the  professional  standard  implied  by  the  qualities  and 
habits  just  enumerated  is  very  high  and  beyond  the  reach  of  most  men. 
It  is  high  but  it  is  not  beyond  the  reach  of  any  man  who  is  determined 
to  attain  it. 

We  have  considered  only  those  qualities  which  most  intimately  re- 
late to  one's  duty  to  himself,  his  fellows,  and  his  profession.  But  for  the 
man  who  would  most  "effectively  serve  the  public  and  who  would  em- 
phasize the  dignity  and  importance  of  his  profession,  still  more  is  neces- 
sary. There  is  a  feeling  all  too  common  that  the  work  of  the  engineer 
is  strictly  utilitarian,  and  that  if  his  designs  are  structurally  sound 
there  is  little  need  for  him  to  concern  himself  with  artistic  appearance, 


ENGINEER  AS  A   PROFESSIONAL   MAN. 

—that  if  his  client  wants  beauty  he  can  go  to  an  architect  or  a  specialist 
in  landscape  work.  The  engineer  with  the  liberal  training,  the  import- 
ance of  which  it  has  been  my  purpose  to  emphasize,  will  readily  ap- 
preciate the  necessity  of  making  his  work  as  attractive  in  appearance 
as  is  consistent  with  utility  and  economy.  Symmetry  of  form,  harmony 
of  color,  and  consistency  in  detail,  do  not  necessarily  involve  additional 
expense.  The  American  people  are  coming  to  realize  that  beauty  is  a 
valuable  asset.  In  this  respect  the  Latin  races  have  been  far  ahead  of 
us,  while  the  Germans,  in  their  city  planning  and  embellishment,  have 
lately  taken,  perhaps,  the  first  rank.  A  checkerboard  city  plan,  with  no 
emphasis  laid  upon  important  streets,  and  entirely  lacking  in  eligible 
sites  for  public  buildings,  as  is  inevitable  in  such  a  plan,  would  not  be 
considered  in  a  European  city,  and  all  over  this  country  there  is  now 
being  manifested  a  keen  desire  to  correct  our  mistakes  in  city  planning 
and  to  add  at  enormous  expense  the  dignified  thoroughfares  and  open 
places  which  were  omitted  when  the  cities  were  laid  out.  You  are  doubt- 
less familiar  with  the  ambitious  plans  of  San  Francisco,  Chicago,  Cleve- 
land, and  other  cities  to  substitute  something  dignified  and  beautiful  for 
what  is  now  distinctly  commonplace.  In  one  of  these  cities  the  plans 
are  well  on  the  way  to  realization.  The  engineer  must  train  his  own 
taste  in  such  matters,  and  he  should  also  be  willing  and  anxious  to 
collaborate  with  the  architect  and  the  artist  in  order  to  produce  satis- 
factory results. 

Plutarch  tells  us  that  when  the  Athenians  protested  that  Pericles 
was  squandering  the  public  money  in  his  efforts  to  beautify  their  city, 
he  replied:  "Since  it  is  so,  let  the  cost  not  go  to  your  account,  but 
to  mine,  and  let  the  inscriptions  upon  the  buildings  stand  in  my  name." 
At  this  they  cried  aloud,  bidding  him  to  spend  on  and  lay  out  what  he 
thought  fit  from  the  public  purse  and  to  spare  no  cost  till  all  were 
finished.  These  old  Greeks  had  an  appreciation  of  the  value  of  beauty  to 
their  city  which  we  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  and  traditions  have  been 
slow  to  realize.  A  French  writer  has  put  this  in  epigrammatic  form 
when  he  said:  "The  beautiful  is  often  more  useful  than  the  useful.'' 
This  acknowledgment  of  the  greater  appreciation  of  artistic  value 
shown  by  the  Europeans,  and  of  the  more  satisfactory  results  of  their 
city  planning  must  not  be  construed  as  advice  that  we  should  imitate 
them  and  try  to  improve  our  cities  by  destroying  what  we  have  and 
making  them  over  in  conformity  with  Old  World  models.  My  plea 
is  that  the  engineers  who  are  charged  with  the  duty  of  planning  our 
new  and  extending  our  present  cities  see  to  it  that  the  necessity  for  this 
costly  work  of  destruction  and  reconstruction  is  avoided. 


LEWIS.  389 

Proper  equipment  for  the  highest  usefulness  in  the  engineering- 
profession  depends  in  large  degree  upon  the  use  a  young  man  makes 
of  his  opportunities  during  his  professional  course.  There  are  a 
great  number  of  excellent  technical  schools  in  this  country,  and  the 
work  done  in  some  of  them  is  doubtless  more  effective  than  that  in  others ; 
but  after  all,  the  results  depend  chiefly  upon  the  man  himself.  I  want, 
however,  to  emphasize  the  special  advantages  of  a  small  institution 
such  as  this,  where  the  student  has  a  better  opportunity  to  gain  that 
inspiration  from  the  teacher  which  close  personal  contact  is  likely  to 
promote.  Elaborate  equipment  and  large  endowment  are  not  every- 
thing; in  fact,  they  are  but  a  poor  substitute  for  the  small  classroom 
unit  and  the  resourcefulness  which  comes  from  the  necessity  of  work- 
ing things  out  for  oneself  without  the  aid  of  too  much  demonstration. 

Permit  me  also  to  caution  both  teacher  and  student  against  the 
tendency  to  undergraduate  specialization  which  has  lately  been  shown 
in  some  of  our  engineering  schools.  There  is  a  temptation  so  to 
mould  one's  course  as  to  fit  him  for  the  greatest  earning  capacity  im- 
mediately after  graduation.  Most  of  you  will  follow  some  special  line 
of  engineering  work.  What  that  is  to  be  will  depend  largely  upon 
circumstance,  opportunity,  or  even  environment.  Students  should  not 
restrict  their  future  usefulness  by  a  one-sided  preparation  for  a  par- 
ticular kind  of  work.  It  is  true  that  their  earning  power  might  be  some- 
what greater  during  the  first  few  years  after  graduation,  but  the  man 
who  is  thoroughly  trained  in  the  fundamentals  of  engineering  education 
will  find  himself  far  better  able  to  avail  of  the  opportunities  which 
may  come  to  him. 

Thorough  preparation  is  essential  to  one  who  would  gain  the 
maximum  of  benefit  from  his  professional  course.  An  academic  de- 
gree is  not  within  reach  of  most  engineering  students,  but  if  by  any 
sacrifice  of  time  and  money  it  can  ,be  attained,  it  will  be  of  enormous 
value.  If  it  is  out  of  the  question,  and  the  student  has  not  had  the 
advantage  of  a  fairly  liberal  preliminary  training,  then  my  advice  is 
to  avoid  the  institution  whose  course  is  entirely  technical,  with  no 
place  for  culture  studies.  There  was  a  time,  not  many  years  ago, 
when  engineering  was  scarcely  considered  as  a  profession,  when  the 
engineer  was  thought  to  be  little  more  than  an  educated  mechanic. 
That  time  has  passed;  engineering  is  now  recognized  as  the  great 
creative  profession,  and  its  dignity  and  emoluments  have  correspond- 
ingly increased.  Let  us  insist  that  it  also  be  classed  as  one  of  the 
learned  professions. 

Members  of  the  Graduating  Class:  I  have  endeavored  to  em- 
phasize the  importance  and  dignity  of  the  engineering  profession  and 


390  ENGINEER  AS  A   PROFESSIONAL   MAN. 

the  prominent  part  which  the  engineer  must  play  in  the  further  de- 
velopment of  this  country.  I  congratulate  you  that  you  have  chosen 
this  profession  for  your  own.  You  have  probably  received  a  great 
deal  of  advice,  especially  during  the  last  few  days.  All  of  it  has 
doubtless  been  good;  much  of  it  you  will  forget;  some  of  it  you  will 
remember.  I  am  not  here  to  preach  to  you,  and  yet  I  will  venture  a 
few  personal  words  in  conclusion. 

You  have  done  faithful  work  in  this  Institution  and  are  about  to 
be  rewarded  by  receiving  its  degree.  This  does  not  mean  that  you 
are  now  engineers.  It  means  that  you  have  received  such  training 
that  by  intelligent  application  of  what  you  have  here  learned  you  may 
soon  become  engineers.  Your  education  is  not  completed,  it  has  only 
begun.  Thus  far  it  has  been  secured  at  the  expense  of  parents  or 
other  relatives ;  possibly  some  of  you  have  paid  for  most  of  it  your- 
selves. See  to  it  that  it  is  not  completed  at  the  expense  of  your  em- 
ployers or  clients.  You  will  doubtless  make  some  mistakes  and  will 
profit  by  them,  but  he  is  fortunate  who  is  able  to  profit  by  the  mistakes 
of  others  as  well  as  his  own.  It  will  be  well  for  you  to  keep  in  touch 
with  your  professional  brethren,  to  identify  yourselves  with  profes- 
sional organizations,  and  to  make  yourselves  familiar  with  current 
professional  literature,  but  do  not  limit  your  acquaintance  to  engineers 
or  your  reading  to  engineering  books  and  periodicals. 

If  you  should  enter  -the  public  service,  do  not  think  that  influence 
will  take  the  place  of  industry  and  honest  endeavor.  The  day  of  the 
political  engineer  has  passed.  You  will  be  called  upon  to  exercise 
functions  which  are  judicial  in  their  nature ;  strive  to  be  absolutely 
fair  and  just.  Do  not  deceive  others,  do  not  let  others  deceive  you, 
and  do  not  deceive  yourselves.  Your  profession  is  an  intensely  prac- 
tical one,  but  there  is  every  reason  why  the  engineer  should  be  an 
idealist,  provided  he  is  not  a  doctrinaire. 

Be  loyal  to  your  profession,  loyal  to  your  Alma  Mater,  loyal  to  you; 
God,  and  you  will  attain  true  success.  Such  success  I  wish  you  all. 


THE  ENGINEER  AND  THE  COMMUNITY. 

By 
Dr.  William  McClellan. 

Most  of  Dr.  McClellan's  address,  which  was  delivered  in  1909  at 
the  Annual  Commencement  of  the  Thomas  S.  Clarkson  Memorial  School 
of  Technology,  is  in  the  main  similar  to  other  commencement  addresses 
herein  given;  but  his  conclusion  deals  with  a  subject  that  needs  empha- 
sizing, hence  it  has  been  reproduced. 

Editors. 


391 


THE  ENGINEER  AND  THE  COMMUNITY. 

By 
Dr.  William  McClellan. 


*  ((  It  is  important  therefore,  if 

we  are  to  rise  to  the  full  dignity  of  our  profession  and  exercise  in  the 
community  the  greatest  possible  influence,  that  we  recognize  our  re- 
sponsibilities. We  must  understand  that  we  make  our  impression  on  the 
community  not  in  some  but  in  all  our  activities, — our  walk,  our  clubs, 
our  societies,  our  diversions,  our  expressed  opinions,  and  our  inter- 
views. We  must  remember  that  while  working  with  materials  we  are 
working  for  men.  We  must  understand  that  while  called  upon  to  ex- 
amine details  carefully  we  must  at  all  times  discard  trivialities.  We  must 
learn  to  cultivate  that  chief  faculty  of  a  really  great  man,  his  ability  to 
distinguish  the  essential  from  the  non-essential.  We  must  learn  especially 
to  keep  the  tools  of  our  profession  out  of  sight,  and  sharpen  them  in 
private,  or  putting  it  differently,  let  us  dwell  more  on  the  things  we  do 
and  their  effects  rather  than  on  the  beauty  of  the  technicalities  in- 
volved. 

We  are  expected  to  have  opinions,  and  must  be  able  to  express 
them.  Opinions,  however,  are  not  manufactured  off  hand,  but  are  the  re- 
sult of  thinking.  If  the  opinions  are  to  be  broad  and  comprehensive, 
they  can  only  be  so  as  a  result  of  continuous  broad  thinking.  If  they 
are  to  be  expressed  forcibly  and  intelligently,  it  can  only  be  done  be- 
cause we  have  practiced  this  art  consistently.  Get  rid  of  the  idea  so 
prevalent  among  engineers  that  talkers  are  not  doers.  This  is  all  wrong, 
and  history  proves  it,  but  when  you  do  talk  say  something,  and  only 
after  proper  consideration. 

All  this  is  comprehended  in  the  general  direction.  Be  an  EN- 
GINEER, without  adjectives,  without  limitations,  broad,  well  rounded, 
far  beyond  the  millwright  stage.  Realize  the  full  meaning  of  the  title 
and  work  towards  it.  Glory  in  it,  and  strive  for  the  time  when  you 
can  honestly  bear  it.  Some  engineers  have  done  this  and  they  are  not 
complaining  about  recognition  by  the  community.  It  knows  their  names, 
and  is  proud  of  them.  ^ 

393 


THE  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  A  MINING  ENGINEER'S  LIFE. 

By 
Edmund  B.  Kirby,  E.  M. 

This  address  was  delivered  to  the  graduating  class  of  1908  at  the 
School  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy  of  the  Missouri  State  University.  It 
is  reproduced  in  part  not  merely  because  of  its  undoubted  excellence 
but  also  to  give  representation  to  the  line  of  mining  engineering. 

Mr.  Kirby  is  the  General  Manager  of  the  Federal  Lead  Company 
of  Flat  River,  Missouri. 

Editors. 


395 


THE  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  A  MINING  ENGINEER'S  LIFE. 

By 

Edmund  B.  Kirby,  E.  M. 

You  have  now  reached  the  time  when  the  care  and  sacrifices  of 
your  families  are  at  an  end,  when  faithful  instructors  have  completed 
their  labors,  when  the  State  has  performed  its  duty.  It  is  now  in 
order  for  you  to  stand  upon  your  own  feet  and  to  go  your  own  way. 

You  are  assembled  here  today  to  say  farewell  and  to  receive  a  few 
directions  about  the  trail  ahead.  At  such  a  moment  we  need  no  words 
from  you  to  know  the  inquiry  in  every  mind  "Which  way  lies  success 
for  me  ?"  To  this  question  so  old  and  yet  so  new,  the  answer  must  ever 
be  the  same — "No  man  knows."  We  can,  however,  tell  you  where  the 
chances  are  best  and  the  dangers  least.  We  can  give  pointers  on  equip- 
ment and  a  few  friendly  suggestions  which  will  aid  your  journey. 

So,  first  of  all  I  say  to  you,  that  the  way  is  long  and  hard.  It 
leads  over  rough  mountains  and  through  treacherous  swamps,  and,  dis- 
appearing, leaves  you  to  break  your  own  trail.  Therefore,  travel  light. 
Look  first  to  your  load.  Study  the  handicap  which  nature  and  fortune 
have  placed  upon  you.  So  far  you  have  not  been  responsible  for  this, 
but  henceforth  you  are.  Give  it  thought  and  care  and  little  by  little,  by 
that  persistent  effort  which  never  fails,  you  may  throw  it  off  and  travel 
free. 

And  next,  I  would  call  your  attention  not  to  the  Technical,  but  to 
the  Human  field  before  you.  I  do  this,  because  it  is  so  often  neglected 
by  mining  engineers,  and  because  this  neglect  is  so  apt  to  bring  delay, 
disappointment,  or  failure.  The  special  work  of  an  engineer  is  to  apply 
the  discoveries  and  methods  of  science  to  the  practical  business  of  the 
world.  Often  he  forgets  how  many-sided  a  man  must  be  for  this  end, 
and  then,  enthusiastic  and  absorbed  in  technical  details,  he  overlooks  the 
fundamental  requirements  of  life. 

I  urge  you,  therefore,  not  to  forget  that  the  world  is  made  up  of 
things  and  of  folks,  and  nine-tenths  of  your  business  is  going  to  be 
with  folks.  Science  is  a  fascinating  but  exacting  goddess,  and  she 
brooks  no  rivals.  She  weaves  a  mystic  spell  about  her  devotees  and 
normal  Human  motives  disappear.  The  love  of  gold,  the  dream  of 
power,  the  hunger  for  social  position,  are  all  forgotten.  They  find 
themselves  impelled  by  strange,  mysterious  forces,  unknown  to  the 

397 


398  MINING  ENGINEER'S  LIFE. 

multitude,  and  by  themselves  but  dimly  understood.  They  pursue  truth 
for  truth's  sake.  They  discover  realities  through  the  insatiable  desire 
to  know.  Enthralled  by  the  passion  for  exploration  and  discovery, 
they  give  profound  intellectual  effort,  they  expend  lives  of  unsparing 
labor  for  a  mere  existence,  often  without  the  aid  of  recognition  or  of 
sympathy.  Such  men  live  apart  and  in  a  higher  world. 

The  enthusiasm  kindled  in  the  student's  heart  by  contact  with  the 
scientific  spirit  can  never  die  out.  It  is  and  must  always  be  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  mining  engineer.  But  his  own  life  work  is  of  a  different 
nature — it  is  most  sternly  practical.  It  is  the  production  of  wealth 
from  the  forces  and  materials  of  nature.  It  leads  out  of  the  library  and 
the  laboratory,  and  into  the  busy  world  of  men  and  affairs.  Year  by 
year  it  calls  more  and  more,  not  for  the  intense  and  narrow  specialist, 
but  for  many-sided  ability,  for  the  well-balanced  man.  The  practical 
business  of  an  engineer  seldom  requires  profound  technical  knowledge, 
but  it  does  demand  a  working  knowledge  of  men  and  skill  in  dealing 
with  them.  He  can  often  prosper  without  the  former,  but  without  the 
latter  his  chances  are  small.  The  special  word  I  bring  you  today, 
therefore,  is  to  seek  for  success  among  Human  beings,  and  throw  off 
the  personal  defects  which  handicap  you  in  the  world  of  men  and 
women. 

This  school  has  done  what  it  could  for  your  equipment.  It  has 
performed  the  duty  for  which  it  was  created;  it  has  awakened  and  de- 
veloped your  intellect;  it  has  acquainted  you  with  the  methods  and  re- 
sources of  science  and  of  your  profession.  You  represent  the  con- 
scientious labor  of  earnest  men  who  have  brought  you  all  to  a  certain 
standard  of  mental  and  technical  equipment.  But  your  social  equip- 
ment, that  combination  of  personal  qualities  which  is  to  help  or  hinder 
your  career,  has  been  left  to  chance.  Fortune  has  bestowed  upon  you 
the  accumulated  result  of  individual  heredity,  of  early  associations  and 
of  other  environments,  and  in  no  two  men  is  this  result  alike.  The  only 
common  training  has  been  that  due  to  your  own  student  life,  together 
for  four  years.  This  has  knocked  off  corners  and  rubbed  down  rough 
places,  and  is  generally  recognized  as  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  a  col- 
lege education.  So,  as  you  stand  today,  varying  in  these  personal  quali- 
ties, I  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  henceforth  you  are  your  own 
architects  and  can  re-construct  as  you  please.  To  youth  all  things  are 
possible,  and  you  can,  if  you  really  wish  it,  change  these  qualities  in 
any  way  you  like. 

You  will  gradually  learn  what  is  wanted.  The  business  world  is 
not  interested  in  the  details  of  your  education.  It  is  generally  under- 
stood that  the  completion  of  a  course  like  yours  indicates  that  the  man 


KIRBY.  399 

has  made  good  in  his  first  test,  that  he  has  carried  through  successfully 
his  first  serious  undertaking.  This  gives  promise  for  the  future,  and 
the  fact  of  technical  training  assures  ease  in  breaking  a  new  man  into 
the  business.  But  you  do  not  ye,t  know  that  the  questions  an  employer 
asks  are  merely  these:  Has  he  good  sense  above  the  average?  What 
are  his  personal  bearing  and  address? 

You  will  find  that  a  diploma  is  of  little  interest  to  others,  but  a 
likeable  personality  is  a  passport,  good  for  life  and  in  all  countries. 
In  time  you  are  to  discover  that  tact  and  diplomacy  solve  more  prob- 
lems than  engineering  formulas ;  that  a  memory  for  names  and  faces 
will  help  you  more  than  one  for  minerals  and  rocks.  Sooner  or  later 
you  will  know  that  good  sense,  that  ability  to  decide  which  of  any  two 
things  is  the  more  important,  is  an  asset  beyond  price.  You  will  awake 
to  the  fact  that  valuable  as  is  skill  in  the  higher  mathematics,  it  will 
never  push  you  to  the  front  like  the  ability  to  write  a  letter  which  will 
really  do  its  work.  How  will  you  deal  with  people  if  not  through 
language,  that  means  by  which  your  thought  and  will  may  reach  the 
consciousness  of  others,  that  delicate  and  subtle  medium  necessary  for 
the  most  simple  affairs  of  daily  life,  yet  capable  under  a  Master's  touch 
of  swaying  a  multitude,  of  moving  the  world?  How  far  have  you 
learned  its  use?  You  have  studied  the  reactions  of  chemistry,  but  how 
much  have  you  learned  of  those  subtle  human  reactions  which  break 
down  indifference  and  create  friendship? 

If  your  training  as  engineers  has  been  effective,  it  has  bred  in 
you  the  impulse  to  search  out  facts,  however  unpleasant  they  may  be, 
and  to  look  them  squarely  in  the  face.  In  sorting  over  your  equipment, 
you  who  do  not  find  yourselves  compendiums  of  all  the  virtues  will 
not  be  lonesome.  You  have,  moreover,  the  consolation  of  knowing  that 
anything  lacking  is  yours  for  the  effort,  if  you  want  it  hard  enough. 

But  you  say  this  wanders  from  engineering  matters.  These  are 
the  winning  qualities  for  all  men.  I  answer  "Quite  so,  the  sucessful 
mining  engineer  is  the  successful  man." 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

And  now  a  few  suggestions  about  your  life  work. 

There  are  men  who  shut  themselves  up,  and  out  of  their  inner  con- 
sciousness evolve  some  great  work,  such  as  an  invention,  or  a  book. 
Occasionally  also,  men  go  into  the  wilderness  and  discover  a  mine. 
But  such  individual  play  is  rare  and  its  chances  are  small.  The  real 
business  of  the  world  is  done  by  team-work,  and  you  must  qualify  for 
this.  It  is  done  by  innumerable  bodies  of  men,  each  of  which  is  under 
some  kind  of  organization,  intended  to  combine  its  units  into  an  efficient 
human  machine,  capable  of  the  business  on  hand.  Now,  every  such 


400  MINING  ENGINEER'S  LIFE. 

machine,  whether  it  be  a  baseball  nine,  a  section  gang,  the  force  of  a 
great  steel-plant,  a  railway  system,  or  an  army,  works  more  or  less 
badly.  The  individuals  who  compose  it,  from  the  general  to  the  private, 
from  the  business  head  to  the  lowest  employee,  have  human  weaknesses 
which  are  much  alike,  and  the  results  are  friction,  loose  joints,  lost  mo- 
tion, and  sand  in  the  gears.  Nevertheless,  the  outfit  goes  creaking  along, 
and  usually  gets  there,  often  to  its  own  surprise. 

There  are  weak  points  in  abundance,  not  only  on  the  Human,  but 
on  the  Technical  side  of  every  business.  There  is  a  best  way  t£>  do  each 
operation,  from  the  handling  of  a  shovel,  up,  and  it  is  not  always  done 
in  the  best  way.  Moreover,  methods,  processes,  and  machines  are  con- 
stantly changing,  constantly  advancing.  These  two  conditions,  the  im- 
perfection of  technical  methods,  and  the  faults  of  Human  organization, 
will  provide  your  openings.  It  is  because  of  them  that  the  world  is  so 
full  of  opportunities  for  men  who  have  the  combinations  of  sound  tech- 
nical training  and  good  sense. 

When,  therefore,  you  hold  a  job,  do  not  waste  time  in  complaints 
and  fault  finding.  You  will  continually  see  waste  and  loss,  things  which 
are  wrong,  things  which  need  improvement.  Others  see  them  too.  If 
you  have  sense  you  will  notice  everything,  but  will  keep  your  mouth 
shut.  Some  day  your  chance  will  come.  Your  advice  will  be  asked. 
Some  day  you  will  be  given  charge  of  a  small  piece  of  work,  of  a  few 
men,  and  may  then  bring  out  your  ideas  by  doing  this  work  better  and 
more  cheaply  than  the  man  before  you. 

An  able  man  will  move  up  from  any  job  and  there  are  no  rules  for 
fortune.  But  in  your  profession  the  chances  are  generally  somewhat 
better  for  those  who  are  able  to  start  as  workmen,  or  in  positions  close 
to  the  working  force.  If  the  machine  of  which  you  are  a  part  is  too 
bad,  get  out,  but  while  you  are  in  any  business^  organization,  be  loyal 
to  it,  hold  up  the  hands  of  those  above  you,  and  keep  your  own  work 
as  free  as  possible  from  the  faults  you  notice  elsewhere. 

Your  duty  now  is  to  get  busy.  Get  into  action  somewhere,  if 
you  cannot  at  once  find  work  in  the  line  desired,  take  anything  tempo- 
rarily. Concentrate  yourself  upon  your  job  until  sure  that  you  are 
holding  it  down,  and  then  turn  your  attention  to  other  men  and  other 
work.  Beyond  this  you  will  play  the  game  as  fortune  and  your  own  will 
dictate. 

Play  it  straight.  This  may  sound  easy  to  you,  fresh  from  the 
wholesome  influences  of  your  homes  and  the  fair-play  of  boy  democracy, 
but  in  years  to  come,  when  the  passions  of  the  fierce  struggle  take 
hold  of  you,  when  copy  book  maxims  fail,  when  you  see  men  around  you 
winning  safety,  fortune,  and  power  by  unscrupulous  methods,  unless 


KIRBY.  401 

you  have  higher  motives  for  honesty  than  the  belief  that  it  generally 
pays,  you  are  quite  likely  to  resign  from  the  Straight  Men's  Association. 
It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  you  will  find  your  profession 
much  above  the  average  in  its  percentage  of  clean  men. 

It  may  sometime  be  of  service  to  know  that  to  be  fired  from  a 
job  is  often  the  best  thing  that  can  happen  to  a  man,  if  he  is  really 
built  of  the  right  stuff.  It  galvanizes  him  into  life,  jerks  him  out  of  a 
rut,  tests  his  own  resources,  and  makes  him  start  fresh  in  new  surround- 
ings and  with  new  people. 

Throughout  your  career  you  will  make  errors  and  have  occasional 
bad  falls.  Avoid  the  delusion  that  such  occurrences  are  fatal.  No 
error  is  serious,  unless  you  fail  to  learn  its  lesson,  or  allow  it  to  weaken 
your  courage.  Some  of  the  most  successful  men  I  have  known  had 
failed  so  many  times  that  they  stopped  remembering.  Because  they 
stopped,  they  succeeded.  If  by  the  caprice  of  fortune,  any  of  you  should 
eventually  meet  with  disappointment,  if  you  should  fail  to  realize  your 
hopes  and  ambitions,  you  will  by  that  time,  have  learned  that  your  only 
failure  has  been  to  escape  the  common  lot  of  man.  You  will  by  that 
time  understand  the  Arizona  epitaph,  "Life  ain't  in  holding  a  good  hand, 
but  in  playing  a  poor  one  well." 

Under  normal  conditions  your  status  will  long  be  simply  that  of  the 
Human  animal,  struggling  for  the  existence  of  self  and  family,  differing 
.from  other  animals  only  in  the  complexity  of  itself,  its  environment,  and 
its  struggle.  This  struggle  for  existence  is  your  first  duty,  and  may 
long  demand  your  whole  attention.  But  for  those  of  you  who  respond 
to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  the  time  should  come,  by  middle  life  if  at  all 
when  your  eyes  will  be  lifted  from  the  details  of  self  seeking.  You 
will  suddenly  become  conscious  of  the  great  Human  organism  of  which 
you  are  a  part  and  of  your  relations  to  it.  You  will  have  attained  in- 
telligence. Thenceforth  a  part  of  the  awakening  soul  of  humanity,  you 
will  see  through  the  surface  and  into  the  injustice  and  unhappiness  of 
the  world  around  you.  When  this  awakening  comes,  with  the  new 
duties  it  imposes  upon  your  conscience,  follow  them.  Choose  what  line 
of  action  you  please,  but  do  something.  You  may  elect  either  to  pick 
up  wounded,  or  to  get  into  the  fighting  line  somewhere,  but  get  busy. 
Join  those  who  are  trying  to  make  the  world  a  decent  place  to  live  in. 

Your  destinies  will  be  determined  by  the  mingled  influences  of 
ability,  hard  work,  and  pure  luck.  Capricious  fortune  will  deal  kindly 
with  some  of  you  and  roughly  with  others.  Some  of  you  will  reach 
wealth  and  power,  others  will  not.  As  your  head  swells  with  success, 
do  not  forget  how  much  of  it  is  due  to  chance.  Do  not  forget  a 
struggling  classmate.  In  a  few  months  the  petty  differences  and 


, 

402  MINING  ENGINEER'S  LIFE. 

jealousies  of  your  college  life  will  have  passed  into  oblivion,  but  the 
man  who  has  rubbed  shoulders  with  you  through  that  experience  has 
a  grip  and  pass- word  that  you  cannot  forget.  Throughout  the  world, 
among  the  yellow,  the  brown,  the  black,  and  the  white,  it  is  the  law  that 
the  call  of  a  comrade  must  be  heard. 

And  now,  gentlemen  of  the  Class  of  1908,  in  behalf  of  the  Profes- 
sion of  Mining  Engineers,  I  welcome  you  to  its  ranks.  No  profession 
is  more  important,  no  one  has  a  brighter  future.  It  is  your  special 
work  to  bring  forth  the  hidden  treasures  of  the  earth,  and  to  convert 
them  to  the  use  of  man.  Yours  is  the  mother  of  industries.  Where 
mines  are  opened,  there  the  wilderness  blossoms  into  towns,  railways, 
agriculture,  manufactures,  homes,  and  all  the  varied  forms  of  civilized 
life.  Yours  is  the  creative  work  of  pioneers,  and  your  field  is  the 
world.  Within  a  few  years  you  will  be  scattered  from  the  east  to  the 
west,  from  the  tropics  to  the  frozen  regions  of  the  north.  Your  duties 
lead  you  to  the  forest,  to  the  mountains,  and  upon  the  desert.  You  are 
to  labor  in  the  roar  of  machinery,  in  the  smoke  of  furnace-fires,  and  in 
the  cities  of  candle-light.  In  time  you  are  to  become  leaders  of  industry 
in  distant  places,  to  be  entrusted  with  power  over  men  under  many  skies. 
Wherever  this  may  be,  whether  in  the  centers  of  our  American  civiliza- 
tion, or  among  strange  peoples  and  amid  strange  tongues,  the  State  of 
Missouri  expects  you  to  bring  honor  to  her  name.  Our  profession  looks 
to  you  to  uphold  and  to  advance  its  standards. 


SUCCESS. 

By 
Dr.  M.  E.  Cooley. 

Dr.  Cooley,  who  occupies  the  chair  of  Mechanical  Engineering  in 
the  University  of  Michigan,  is  one  of  our  foremost  technical  educators. 
He  is  a  graduate  of  the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  and  he 
served  in  the  navy  for  a  number  of  years  before  taking  up  teaching  as 
a  specialty.  As  he  is  a  practicing  engineer  as  well  as  an  instructor, 
his  dicta  concerning  the  important  topic  of  "Success"  ought  to  carry 
conviction.  His  thrilling  words  in  this  address  ought  to  arouse  the 
enthusiasm  of  every  young  man  who  reads  them  and  develop  in  him 
worthy  aspirations  of  the  highest  order. 

Editors. 


403 


SUCCESS. 

By 
Dr.  M.  E.  Cooley. 

It  has  occurred  to  me  that  I  could  do  no  better  in  this  my  final 
word  to  you  than  to  try  to  answer  a  question  which  each  and  every- 
one of  you  has  asked  himself,  or  should  ask  himself ;  viz.  How  best 
can  I  succeed  in  my  chosen  field  of  work?  What  should  I  do  to  make 
of  myself  the  greatest  success?  It  is  not  an  easy  question  to  answer, 
for,  like  many  an  algebraic  problem,  the  unknown  quantities  are  greater 
in  number  than  the  equations  embracing  them.  Moreover,  it  is  difficult 
for  a  young  man  to  see  himself  as  others  see  him.  It  would  be  for- 
tunate indeed  if  the  young  man  could  write  down  on  paper  the  several 
equations  of  himself  so  that  he  could  study  them  deliberately  and  then 
apply  the  principles  of  mathematics  to  their  solution.  The  problem 
would  be  found  to  embrace  such  elements  as  inertia,  velocity,  accelera- 
tion, momentum,  vis  viva,  and  maxima  and  minima.  Indeed  a  knowl- 
edge of  your  limitations  is  of  the  first  importance.  The  whole  problem 
may  be  stated  in  two  words:  Know  thyself. 

The  first  and  most  important  question  to  ask  one's  self  is  what  did 
God  intend  I  should  do  in  the  world's  work?  Many,  if  not  most  failures 
can  be  charged  up  to  not  having  learned  the  answer  to  that  question. 
If  on  a  close  analysis  of  yourself  the  answer  points  to  something  different 
from  what  you  had  planned  to  do,  do  not  hesitate  to  change,  and  to 
change  at  once.  For  be  assured  that  if  you  do  the  work  you  were  in- 
tended for  you  will  make  a  success  of  it,  and  nothing  can  prevent  it. 

It  will  require  courage  in  many  instances  to  accept  the  result  of 
such  an  analysis  of  one's  self,  but  remember  the  physics  of  the  problem, 
and  that  as  naturally  as  water  runs  down  hill,  and  requires  power  to 
force  it  up  hill,  so  with  you  in  your  work — if  selected  with  regard  to 
your  fitness,  success  will  flow  readily,  and  if  not,  power  will  be  con- 
tinually required  to  bring  about  success. 

A  young  man  was  graduated  from  this  University  in  engineering 
in  1905.  He  came  here  off  a  farm  and  helped  himself  through  col- 
lege by  work.  He  applied  himself  faithfully  to  his  chosen  profession 
for  nearly  five  years,  and  was  fairly  successful.  He  paid  back  the 
money  he  had  borrowed  while  in  college,  helped  bear  some  of  the  ex- 

405 


27 


406  SUCCESS. 

penses  at  his  old  home,  and  saved  the  rest  of  his  money.  He  has  now 
gone  back  to  the  farm  in  the  belief  that  for  a  man  of  his  temperament 
a  greater  measure  of  success  could  there  be  obtained  than  in  engineering. 
I  know  that  young  man  intimately  and  am  sure  he  has  made  no  mis- 
take. He  probably  would  never  have  been  more  than  just  a  good  aver- 
age engineer,  but  he  will  make  a  success  as  a  farmer.  His  education 
has  not  been  wasted.  It  will  be  a  great  comfort  to  him  in  the  years  to 
come;  and  even  if  it  has  done  no  more  for  him  than  to  enable  him  to 
settle  the  one  great  question,  it  was  amply  justified. 

It  is  important  to  know  just  what  constitutes  success.  Do  not  make 
the  very  common  mistake  of  measuring  success  by  the  amount  of  money 
you  can  earn.  One  must  have  money  and  enough  to  live  on,  but  it  is 
not  the  all  important  thing  at  the  beginning  of  life.  It  becomes  really 
important  only  when  one's  working  days  are  drawing  to  a  close,  and 
enough  must  be  had  to  bridge  over  the  shoals  to  the  deep  water  where 
the  ferryman  waits  for  the  final  passage. 

In  one  sense  success  is  the  realization  of  one's  ambition.  It  is 
the  achievement  of  the  result  of  one's  plans  and  labor.  It  is 
the  bringing  about  of  the  end  sought  to  be  accomplished.  We  are 
sometimes  confused,  I  think,  by  the  surgeon  who  says  the  operation 
was  successful  notwithstanding  that  the  patient  died.  In  the  arts  we 
may  have  its  parallel  in  the  case  of  a  machine  which  produces  the  result 
intended,  but  fails  because  there  is  not  enough  demand  for  the  product, 
or  because  of  insufficient  raw  material  to  work  upon. 

Professor  John  E.  Sweet,  the  father  of  the  Straight-line  Engine, 
used  to  tell  the  story  of  the  man  who  designed  and  built  a  most  per- 
fect machine  for  manufacturing  pins.  It  was  a  wide  step  in  advance 
of  the  art.  A  large  factory  was  built  in  Syracuse,  and  when  completed 
the  proprietors  went  into  the  market  for  pin  wire.  The  price  quoted 
was  so  high  as  to  lead  to  the  remark  that  at  such  a  price  the  wire 
cost  as  much  as  the  finished  pins.  "Oh,"  said  the  wire  merchants,  "if 
you  would  like  to  have  the  wire  run  through  the  pin  machines  and 
made  into  pins,  it  can  be  done  at  the  same  price."  There  was  a  case 
of  a  success  which,  owing  to  other  circumstances,  resulted  in  failure. 

Failure  itself  is  often  success.  Such  a  case  is  found  in  the  prob- 
lem which  one  has  attempted  to  solve  expecting  a  certain  result,  and  in 
the  solution  of  which  it  was  completely  demonstrated  that  no  such  re- 
sult is  possible.  It  may  be  quite  as  much  of  a  success  to  prove  that  a 
thing  can  not  be  done  at  all,  and  it  may  be  more  of  a  success,  than  to 
achieve  a  partial  result  which  leads  on  to  the  expenditure  of  more  time 
and  money  with  the  final  result  a  failure  after  all. 


COOLEY.  407 

In  measuring  success  in  life  I  would  like  to  start  with  citizenship. 
Let  everyone,  first  of  all,  be  a  good  citizen,  one  who  commands  the  re- 
spect of  his  neighbors ;  one  who  has  ideals  and  is  successful  in  inspiring 
them  in  others,  so  that  the  community  and  the  home  are  all  better  for 
those  ideals.  A  man  who  conducts  himself  so  as  to  maintain  his  self- 
respect  is  a  great  success.  A  man  who  lives  his  life  within  his  income 
and  meets  his  obligations  is  a  success.  The  man  who  by  his  example 
creates  in  his  neighbor  a  desire  to  emulate  him  is  a  success.  A  man 
who  never  shirks  responsibility,  and  takes  upon  himself  duties  to  be 
performed  and  does  his  best  in  performing  them  is  a  success.  In  none 
of  these  things  need  money  be  considered,  except  sufficient  to  live  on 
and  do  the  things  which  come  to  hand. 

I  do  not  mean  in  my  definition  of  success  to  omit  the  truly  great 
things,  but  everyone  knows  of  them,  and  they  need  not  be  mentioned. 
I  want  you,  young  men,  to  go  out  into  the  world  prepared  to  credit 
yourselves  with  being  successful,  even  if  you  do  not  acomplish  some- 
thing which  the  world  would  call  truly  great. 

One  of  my  old  friends  wrote  me  the  other  day  a  most  interesting 
letter  concerning  himself.  After  graduating  from  the  Arts  Department 
here  at  Michigan,  he  attended  an  eastern  engineering  school.  He  had 
often  wondered  why  he  did  not  get  along  better  in  the  world.  The 
lesson  is  so  valuable  and  so  pertinent  to  the  spirit  of  my  remarks  this 
morning  that  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  quoting  parts  of  his  letter. 
Understand  it  is  from  a  man  now  nearly  or  quite  fifty  years  old.  This 
is  his  letter: 

"It  has  just  entered  my  head  that  many  engineering  graduates 
might  be  the  better  for  a  little  bit  of  advice,  or  perhaps,  warning,  in 
regard  to  the  necessity  of  discriminating  between  knowing  how  work 
should  be  done,  and  knowing  how  to  get  it  done.  I  have  suffered  all 
my  life  from  knowing  how  things  should  be  done,  and  leaving  them 
for  some  other  fellow  to  finish ;  and  it  is  only  within  the  last  year  that 
I  have  had  my  eyes  fully  opened  to  the  folly  of  such  a  plan  of  action. 
The  extra  work  of  completing  the  job  is  nothing  to  the  man  who  has 
done  the  preliminary  work  and  laid  out  the  completion  of  it.  But  the 
man  who  actually  gets  it  done  and  sees  that  it  is  finished,  who  has  to 
go  over  the  other  man's  preliminary  work  and  become  familiar  with 
the  plan  for  its  completion,  before  he  starts,  is  the  one  who  gets  all 
the  credit,  and  moreover  he  has  a  right  to  it.  He  is  the  man  who  gets 
the  money  anyhow. 

"I  never  discovered  this  little  secret  until  I  struck  the  sales  end  of 
the  engineering  business,  and  found  that  unless  I  carried  my  work 
clear  through  to  where  I  could  say,  'Here!  Make  this,  as  shown  and 


408  SUCCESS. 

specified.  Deliver  here  on  such  a  date,  for  such  a  price,  to  be  paid  on 
such  a  date,'  the  work  was  not  complete  and  I  could  claim  no  credit 
for  it,  unless,  of  course,  conditions  were  such  that  it  was  a  physical 
impossibility  for  me  to  get  all  the  data  myself  and  attend  to  the  wind- 
up  before  it  was  turned  over  to  the  production  end. 

"The  man  who  took  the  trouble  to  teach  me  this,  is  fifteen  years 
younger  than  myself  and  never  saw  the  inside  of  a  technical  school.  He 
got  his  engineering  in  the  shop,  and  at  sea,  and  was  absorbing  business 
principles  all  the  time.  Eight  years  ago  he  was  working  under  me 
at  the  'Brown-Hoist'  in  Cleveland,  and  when  I  went  to  work  for  him  a 
year  ago,  I  found  he  had  been  analyzing  my  character  while  working 
for  me,  and  had  his  whole  plan  prepared  for  reconstructing  the  inside 
of  my  head,  and  he  has  done  it.  I  have  for  some  time  been  puzzled 
to  know  just  what  it  was  that  I  had  learned  that  made  me  succeed  as 
I  had  never  done  before,  and  have  concluded  that  it  is  simply  this: 
Carry  whatever  you  do  to  a  conclusion,  to  a  point  where  you  can  turn 
over  something  concrete,  so  that  all  that  remains  is  simply  an  order  or 
a  set  of  directions,  the  origin  of  which  need  not  be  investigated,  and 
in  which  there  is  nothing  to  be  checked.  In  other  words,  to  do  the 
work  so  that  you  can  tell  the  next  man  just  what  he  is  to  do,  and  so 
that  he  can  hold  you  responsible  for  what  has  been  done  up  to  the 
time  he  receives  the  order. 

"I  suppose  to  many,  even  very  young  engineers,  these  are  self-evi- 
dent truths,  and  to  them  it  might  seem  childish  to  put  such  things 
into  words,  but  from  my  own  unpleasant  experience,  I  suspect  that  the 
majority  of  young  men  are  not  alive  to  the  matter,  and  that  many  do 
not  get  wise  till  quite  late  in  life,  like  myself,  and  some  (a  good  many) 
never  learn  it." 

There  is  one  rule  I  have  always  tried  to  follow.  It  may  not  add 
much  to  one's  success  as  measured  by  money,  but  it  has  at  least  afforded 
a  great  amount  of  personal  satisfaction.  Often  when  an  engineer  is 
called  upon  in  a  consulting  capacity,  he  is  asked  to  produce  a  particular 
result,  and  not  infrequently  is  told  that  no  other  result  is  needed  or  de- 
sired. This  I  have  as  a  rule  declined  to  do,  and  when  urged  to  hurry 
my  report  have  said,  "I  can  not  give  you  my  report  until  it  is  finished. 
While  you  may  be  satisfied  with  the  work  already  done,  I  am  not.  When 
I  am  satisfied  you  also  will  be  satisfied."  Work  should  always  be  carried 
on  to  a  point  which  will  enable  the  engineer  to  advise  in  light  of  all 
the  things  developed  during  the  investigation.  That  is  particularly  true 
of  a  new  project.  If  reported  on  after  only  a  partial  investigation,  work 
might  have  been  commenced  and  money  expended  along  lines  found, 
after  a  complete  investigation,  to  be  entirely  wrong. 


COOLEY.  409 

It  is  an  engineer's  duty  to  work  out  problems  for  his  employer  which 
will  show  conclusively  all  that  can  be  known  for  and  against  a  pro- 
ject. Moreover  it  is  a  duty  one  owes  himself,  for  one's  reputation  should 
not  be  jeopardized.  A  reputation  is  an  engineer's  capital.  Properly 
treated  it  will  bear  a  good  return,  but  ill  treatment  will  not  only  diminish 
the  return  but  ultimately  destroy  the  principal.  Young  men,  you  must 
cherish  your  reputation  above  all  things,  if  you  are  to  continue  in  the 
practice  of  engineering. 

A  young  engineer  once  handed  me  a  letter  in  which  he  was  offered 
a  contract  in  a  certain  way,  and  asked  "What  would  you  do  about  it?" 
I  replied,  "Young  man,  if  you  expect  to  continue  in  engineering  work, 
only  one  course  is  possible;  if  you  plan  to  go  into  other  work  two 
courses  are  possible."  He  smiled — and  is  still  engaged  in  engineering 
work  and  very  successfully.  Once  an  engineer  has  been  purchased, 
it  speedily  becomes  known  among  salesmen,  and  sooner  or  later  among 
the  engineer's  employers,  and  that  is  the  beginning  of  the  end,  if  not  the 
end  itself. 

And  now  a  final  word.  Be  true  to  your  employer.  You  may  not 
agree  with  him  or  with  his  policies.  You  may  dislike  him,  but  as  long 
as  you  work  for  him  and  receive  his  pay,  be  true  to  him.  Such  conduct 
will  win  for  you  your  employer's  respect,  and  he  will  aid  you  when 
you  go  from  his  service.  Always  give  your  employer  ample  notice  of 
your  intention  to  leave,  and  give  him  the  true  reasons  if  he  asks  them. 
Make  a  sacrifice,  if  necessary  to  prevent  any  embarrassment  which  might 
result  from  your  leaving.  These  are  little  things,  but  they  win. 

Be  content  with  moderate  or  even  small  pay,  if  there  is  a  future 
in  sight.  Oftentimes  the  small  beginning  makes  the  most  satisfactory 
ending.  It  is  better  to  start  at  $45  or  $50  a  month  and  advance  steadily 
upward  with  no  limit  in  sight  than  to  start  at  $75  or  $80  with  a  known 
limit  of  advancement  ahead  of  you.  Put  by  a  part  of  your  earnings, 
10%  at  least.  Put  it  in  a  separate  bank  and  do  not  touch  it  until  you 
have  to.  If  your  pay  is  $50,  put  by  five  of  it  and  if  $100,  put  by  ten. 
When  the  accumulation  makes  $500,  take  it  out  of  the  savings  bank 
and  buy  a  good  bond.  In  a  short  time  you  will  have  two  or  three  bonds. 
Then  when  you  want  to  raise  money,  to  go  into  business  it  may  be, 
you  can  offer  your  bonds  as  collateral  and  get  the  money  without  ask- 
ing anyone  to  go  on  your  note  with  you.  It  gives  a  fine  feeling  of 
independence  and  enchances  one's  manhood. 

Probably  no  better  example  of  the  qualities  which  make  for  success 
can  be  found  anywhere  than  in  that  little  story  entitled  "Carrying  a 
Message  to  Garcia."  When  asked  if  you  can  do  a  certain  thing,  let 
your  answer  be  "Aye,  Aye,  Sir,"  then  go  about  it  and  do  it.  If  in  the 


410  .  SUCCESS. 

attempt  you  find  yourself  in  a  hole,  climb  out.  If  you  can't  climb  out, 
then  die  in  the  attempt.  Don't  be  a  coward,  be  courageous  and  brave 
and  always  in  a  manly  way.  Let  me  give  you,  in  closing,  the  lines  of 
John  Trotwood  Moore  entitled 

SUCCESS 
'Tis  the  coward  who  quits  to  misfortune, 

Tis  the  knave  who  changes  each  day, 
Tis  the  fool  who  wins  half  the  battle, 

Then  throws  all  his  chances  away. 

There  is  little  in  life  but  labor, 

And  tomorrow  may  find  that  a  dream; 

Success  is  the  bride  of  Endeavor, 

And  luck — but  a  meteor's  gleam. 

The  time  to  succeed  is  when  others, 

Discouraged,  show  traces  of  tire ; 
-  The  battle  is  fought  in  the  homestretch — 
And  won — 'twixt  the  flag  and  the  wire. 


SOME  OF  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  SUCCESS. 

By 
Dr.  Chas.  Sumner  Howe. 

To  supplement  Dr.  Cooley's  inspiring  words,  some  extracts  from 
Dr.  Howe's  address  on  a  like  subject  to  the  1910  graduating  class  of 
the  School  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy  of  the  Missouri  State  University 
are  here  reproduced.  Dr.  Howe  is  President  of  the  Case  School  of 
Applied  Science,  the  recipient  of  numerous  academic  degrees  of  the 
highest  order,  and  an  engineer  of  acknowledged  ability  and  experience. 
Want  of  space  prevents  the  reproduction  of  the  entire  address,  which 
certainly  is  interesting  and  valuable  from  start  to  finish. 

Editors. 


411 


SOME  OF  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  SUCCESS. 

•'  "  By        ••••    •     •;.        • 

Dr.  Chas.  Sumner  Howe. 


A  few  weeks  ago  I  listened  to  an  address  upon  the  subject  "En- 
gineers as  Leaders."  The  speaker  proceeded  to  compare  the  number 
of  prominent  engineers  with  the  number  of  men  prominent  in  other 
professions,  and  then  drew  certain  comparisons  from  his  figures.  I 
have  never  felt  very  much  interest  in  the  question  of  preparation  in  a 
technical  school  for  leadership,  either  among  engineers  or  in  the  world 
at  large.  Only  a  few  can  be  leaders,  the  large  majority  must  hold  sub- 
ordinate positions.  If  the  technical  school  made  a  special  business  of 
trying  to  educate  the  leaders,  it  would  not  properly  educate  the  great 
bulk  of  its  students,  for  they  will  be  obliged  to  carry  on  the  everyday, 
ordinary  work  which  falls  to  most  engineers.  But  there  is  one  point 
in  regard  to  education  which  does  interest  me  exceedingly;  that  is, 
education  for  success.  Now,  success  is  a  very  much  abused  term.  It 
has  a  certain  definition  in  the  dictionary,  but  its  meaning  to  an  individual 
generally  depends  upon  his  views  of  life.  One  man  considers  that  suc- 
cess does  not  come  to  him  unless  he  acquires  great  wealth ;  another,  to 
be  successful  in  his  own  estimation,  must  receive  honors  from  his  fellow 
citizens;  another  must  reach  the  top  of  his  profession,  and  so  on.  It 
is  evident  that  if  these  are  the  views  of  all  men  in  regard  to  success, 
few  of  them  will  attain  their  goal — for  comparatively  few  can  be  very 
wealthy,  but  few  can  hold  distinguished  rank,  but  few  can  be  at  the  top 
of  their  professions. 

My  definition  of  success  is  this :  A  man  is  successful  when  he  con- 
tinually does  all  that  it  is  possible  for  him  to  do.  All  men  are  not  alike. 
One  man  may  have  greater  intellectual  power  than  others;  another  may 
have  greater  bodily  strength ;  another  may  have  a  faculty  of  keen  insight ; 
another  may  have  the  peculiar  quality  of  getting  along  well  with  other 
men.  Now,  the  man  of  medium  ability  cannot  hope,  as  a  rule,  to  reach 
the  same  high  goal  that  can  be  attained  by  the  man  of  great  intellectual 
endowments;  but  I  claim  that  if  the  former  accomplishes  all  that  his 
powers  will  enable  him  to  accomplish,  he  has  been  just  as  successful  as 
the  latter,  although  he  may  not  have  done  as  much  of  the  world's  work. 

413 


414  .    ESSENTIALS   OF   SUCCESS. 

Whether  you  agree  with  me  or  not  in  my  definition  of  success,  you  will 
at  least  allow  that  every  man  should  try  to  accomplish  as  much  as  pos- 
sible— that  he  should  at  all  times  do  his  very  best. 

*  *  $  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

I  believe  it  is  generally  true,  that  if  a  man  is  ready  for  promotion, 
sooner  or  later  it  will  come  to  him.  Most  of  you  undoubtedly  have  heard 
men  say,  "No,  I  am  not  going  to  work  any  harder;  I  am  doing  now  all 
I  am  paid  to  do."  The  man  who  achieves  success  and  secures  advance- 
ment always  does  more  than  he  is  paid  to  do ;  that  is  the  kind  of  man 
any  firm  wants.  No  employer  will  hire  a  man  unless  he  can  make  money 
out  of  him,  and  the  more  money  he  can  make,  the  better  pleased  the  em- 
ployer is  with  the  man  and  the  more  desirous  he  is  to  advance  him. 
This  is  one  of  the  paths  to  success — do  more  than  you  are  paid  to  do, 
and — do  it  cheerfully. 

The  young  engineer  must  know  more  than  his  own  work  or  the 
work  of  the  man  just  ahead  of  him.  He  should  study  the  work  of  his 
company  or  his  firm,  and  find  out  its  relation  to  that  of  other  companies 
and  firms.  He  should  know  where  the  firm's  raw  material  comes  from, 
approximately  what  it  costs,  all  the  steps  in  its  treatment,  what  the  final 
product  is,  where  it  is  sold,  what  it  is  used  for ;  in  fact,  he  should  en- 
deavor to  gain  a  comprehensive  idea  of  the  whole  business. 

The  successful  engineering  graduate  will  subscribe  for  the  leading 
technical  magazines  in  his  line  of  work,  and  he  will  not  only  subscribe 
for  them — he  will  read  them,  in  order  that  he  may  keep  posted  in  re- 
gard to  what  men  in  his  profession  are  doing,  not  only  from  the  engineer- 
ing standpoint,  but  from  the  manufacturing  standpoint  as  well.  Too 
many  technical  graduates  never  take  a  technical  journal.  They  say 
they  do  not  need  it  for  the  work  they  are  doing,  which  is  probably  true, 
and  if  they  continue  in  that  frame  of  mind,  the  probability  is,  they  will 
never  need  to  take  the  journals,  because  they  will  not  rise  to  positions 
of  high  enough  responsibility  to  make  it  necessary.  The  successful  man 
• — the  man  who  is  doing  all  that  is  in  him  to  do — must  know  what  other 
men  are  doing,  and  he  must  put  this  knowledge  to  use  in  the  work  which 
he  does  from  day  to  day. 

I  believe  every  engineering  graduate  should  keep  a  card  catalog  of 
articles  and  books  which  he  reads,  and  these  cards  should  give  the  in- 
formation under  so  many  different  heads  that  it  surely  can  be  found 
when  needed.  Almost  every  man  has  at  some  time  in  his  career  wanted 
very  much  some  article  which  he  remembers  having  read  but  cannot 
place.  Usually,  this  occurs  to  men  every  week  or  every  day.  Knowl- 
edge is  valuable  only  as  it  can  be  used.  No  one  can  remember  every- 
thing which  he  has  read;  no  one  can  know  all  there  is  to  be  known; 


HOWE.  415 

but  every  engineering  graduate  should  know  where  to  go  to  find  the  in- 
formation necessary  in  the  successful  pursuit  of  his  profession.  This 
means  knowing  how  to  search  encyclopedias,  magazines,  books,  etc., 
and  I  ihink  the  practice  of  keeping  a  card  catalog  of  the  important 
things  read  will  pay  for  itself  many  times  over.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  a 
little  extra  work  of  this  kind. 

The  man  who  is  looking  for  the  highest  success  should  study  men 
who  have  been  successful,  to  find  but  the  secret  of  their  success.  Suc- 
cessful men  have  many  qualities.  I  believe  it  will  always  be  found  that 
they  are  educated.  Now,  this  does  not  mean  that  they  have  had  a  col- 
lege education,  but  it  means  that  they  have  educated  themselves  for  the 
things  they  have  had  to  do  and  the  lives  they  have  had  to  lead ;  and  this 
is  the  kind  of  an  education  that  every  man  must  have  if  he  is  to  rise 
above  his  fellow-men,  no  matter  whether  he  has  previously  received  a 
college  education  or  not.  A  technical  education  does  not  necessarily 
mean  success ;  there  are  many  other  essentials.  Very  frequently  parents 
think  that  if  a  boy  goes  through  college  he  ought  to  become  a  success- 
ful man,  and  they  sometimes  intimate  as  much  to  college  faculties.  But 
the  fact  is,  if  a  college  is  to  make  a  successful  engineer  out  of  a  student, 
the  boy  must  have  some  brains  to  start  with.  Mental  ability,  correct 
habits  of  thought  and  work,  intelligence,  power  of  application,  the 
ability  to  get  along  with  men,  love  of  work,  high  character,  are  all 
necessary  for  success,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  a  technical  education  is 
more  essential  than  any  one  of  these.  These  qualities  should  be  cul- 
tivated by  the  one  who  would  win  success,  because  they  are  necessary, 
if  the  highest  goal  is  to  be  reached.  All  men  do  not  have  these  qual- 
ities to  the  same  degree,  and  a  man  is  not  to  be  held  accountable  for 
natural  qualities  which  he  does  not  possess.  He  is,  however,  to- be  held 
accountable  for  the  way  in  which  he  uses  and  improves  the  natural  en- 
dowments which  are  his.  It  is  this  use  and  improvement  of  that  which 
nature  has  given  him  which  I  have  termed  "Success."  It  is  possible 
for  every  man  to  develop  his  powers  to  the  highest  degree,  and  that 
is  all  that  any  one  can  expect  him  to  do. 

Again,  if  a  man  is  to  be  successful  in  this  world,  he  must  have  the 
ability  to  do  things.  The  American  nation  demands  results,  and  much 
will  be  forgiven  him  who  secures  them.  A  strenuous  president  may 
make  enemies  by  some  of  the  things  he  does,  but  the  nation  at  large 
will  overlook  many  mistakes  if  he  is  one  to  whom  accomplishment  has 
become  a  habit.  The  engineer  must  do  things,  because  if  he  does  not  he 
is  not  an  engineer.  It  is  the  business  of  men  of  this  profession  to  take 
the  materials  and  forces  of  nature  and  to  use  them  for  the  benefit  of 
mankind.  The  materials  may  lie  in  inaccessible  places;  they  may  not 


416  ESSENTIALS   OF  SUCCESS. 

be  in  the  form  or  shape  necessary  for  use.  But  the  engineer  must 
overcome  these  difficulties  and  transport  the  material  to  the  place  where 
it  can  be  used  and  change  its  form  or  substance  so  that  it  will  be  ser- 
viceable to  man.  He  may  run  up  against  some  pretty  stiff  natural 
laws,  and  these  laws  will  not  change  nor  step  out  of  the  way  because 
the  man  who  wishes  to  use  them  is  a  graduate  of  a  technical  school. 
He  must  use  the  laws  in  the  way  in  which  they  were  intended  to  be 
used,  and  he  must  make  one  force  counteract  another  until  the  desired 
result  is  reached.  In  fact,  he  is  constantly  doing  things,  and  this  is 
what  makes  him  such  an  effective  unit  in  the  society  of  the  present  age. 
I  have  spoken  of  some  of  the  individual  characteristics  which  make 
for  success,  but  the  progress  of  the  nation  is  of  much  more  importance 
than  the  well-being  of  an  individual.  A  man's  work  cannot  be  called 
successful,  no  matter  what  it  brings  to  him,  if  it  is  detrimental  to  the 
nation  at  large. 


ADDRESS   TO   THE   GRADUATING   CLASS    OF   THE   ROSE 
POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

By 
Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell. 

This  address  was  delivered  in  1902,  nine  years  after  the  preceding 
one,  to  the  students  of  Kansas  University;  and  therefore  it  represents 
the  conclusions  of  the  author's  more  mature  judgment.  Mr.  Harrington 
in  compiling  Dr.  Waddell's  "Principal  Professional  Papers,"  takes 
issue  thus  with  him  on  one  of  the  matters  treated. 

"Serious  exception  may  be  taken,  however,  to  the  strictures  against 
municipal  service.  The  work  for  which  cities  employ  engineers  is 
of  the  highest  importance  and  requires  something  of  the  skill  and  tact 
of  the  politician,  as  well  as  engineering  knowledge.  It  is  true  that 
'practical  polities'  is  commonly  odious  to  the  scientific  man  who  is 
intent  upon  rendering  the  best  possible  service,  but  it  is  rare  indeed  that 
the  engineer  is  free  to  act  according  to  his  best  judgment,  no  matter 
what  his  position.  If  he  be  in  the  employ  of  a  manufacturer  or  a  con- 
tractor, competition  forces  him  to  adopt  many  methods  which  fall 
short  of  the  best.  Even  the  consulting  engineer  is  often  vexed  by 
restrictions  which  his  clients  force  upon  him.  In  no  case  is  one  abso- 
lutely free  to  act  according  to  his  judgment  except,  possibly,  in  some 
private  matters. 

"But  there  is  great  public  work  to  be  done,  and  honest  capable  men 
must  be  employed  to  do  it.  The  civil  engineer  who  enters  the  employ  of 
a  public  corporation  will  encounter  many  annoying  obstacles.  Politicians 
will  endeavor  to  force  incompetent  assistants  upon  him;  with  good  in- 
tent and  bad,  his  work  will  be  unfairly  criticised;  due  honor  and  credit 
will  be  denied 'him;  he  may  even  be  persecuted  for  taking  his  stand 
against  corruption ;  but  in  spite  of  these  unpleasant  features  of  his 
position,  he  is  in  duty  bound  to  conduct  his  office  for  the  benefit  of  his 
employer,  the  public.  The  more  difficult  the  position,  the  more  credit 
is  due  if  it  be  honorably  filled.  The  harder  the  battle,  the  stronger  the 
victor  will  be." 

The  placing  of  the  office  of  city  engineer  under  civil  service  rules, 
which  is  fast  coming  into  vogue,  removes  most  of  the  objections  which 
Dr.  Waddell  used  to  hold  against  municipal  engineering. 

Editors. 

417 


CALIFORNIA, 
.U«H«NS 

,  CAUFGBN! 


ADDRESS     TO    THE    MEMBERS     OF    THE    GRADUATING 

CLASS  IN  THE  ENGINEERING  DEPARTMENT  OF 

THE  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

By 
Dr.  J.  A.  L.  Waddell. 

GENTLEMEN: — When  your  worthy  President  did  me  the  honor 
of  inviting  me  to  address  you  on  this  auspicious  occasion,  I  was  sorely 
tempted  to  decline,  because  of  the  vast  amount  of  professional  work 
with  which  my  associates  and  I  are  at  present  struggling.  This  is 
by  far  the  busiest  period  of  my  entire  career,  and  possibly  you  know 
that  my  life  has  not  been  an  idle  one.  Notwithstanding  this  state  of 
affairs,  I  concluded  to  accept  your  President's  invitation,  because  I 
recognize  that  it  is  an  important  part  of  an  old  engineer's  duty  to  aid 
young  engineers  in  making  their  start  in  life. 

I  feel  that  I  must  begin  with  an  apology  for  reading  to  you  a 
type-written  address,  assuring  you  that,  as  an  extempore  speaker,  I  am 
an  utter  failure,  unless  it  be  when  lecturing  on  technical  subjects ;  and 
I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that  a  fair  written  address  is  pre- 
ferable to  a  poor  extempore  one. 

Your  President  has  left  me  the  choice  of  a  subject,  merely  sug- 
gesting that  I '  give  the  boys  some  good  advice  and  try  to  make  my 
remarks  of  general  interest  so  as  to  reach  others  than  the  engineering 
graduates.  With  the  first  portion  of  this  suggestion  I  most  readily 
comply ;  but  I  must  beg  to  be  excused  from  the  second,  as  I  am  no 
hand  at  making  popular  speeches.  My  remarks  then,  young  gentle- 
men, will  be  directed  to  you  solely,  hence  those  of  my  hearers  who  do 
not  belong  to  the  graduating  class  are  destined,  probably,  to  have  a 
stupid  time,  but  I  can  promise  them  that  it  will  be  comparatively  short. 

An  engineer's  success  in  life  depends  greatly  upon  two  things: 
First,  the  thoroughness  with  which  he  has  pursued  his  studies  at  his 
technical  school ;  and,  second,  the  start  that  he  makes  immediately  after 
leaving  there. 

In  respect  to  the  first  matter,  I  assume  that  the  conditions  here, 
like  those  that  have  always  existed  at  that  other  and  older  R.  P.  I.  (of 
which,  by  the  way,  I  have  the  honor  to  be  an  alumnus)  are  such  that 
no  student  who  has  failed  to  attend  strictly  to  business  during  his  four 
years'  course  is  able  to  be  present  to-day  in  the  graduating  class,  and 

419 


420  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

that,  consequently,  you  all  are  in  good  shape  as  far  as  the  first  requisite  is 
concerned.  It  is  of  the  second,  therefore,  that  I  shall  now  proceed  to 
treat,  by  giving  you  some  wholesome  advice,  based  not  only  upon  my 
own  professional  experience,  but  afso  upon  that  of  other  engineers  of 
my  acquaintance,  and  having  due  regard  to  both  successful  and  unsuc- 
cessful careers. 

Generally  speaking,  advice  to  young  men  is  a  wasted  effort,  for 
it  goes  into  one  ear  and  comes  out  of  the  other  (concerning  this  I 
can  speak  authoratively,  for  I  am  trying  to  rear  two  boys  of  my  own)  ; 
but  in  your  case  I  hope  for  better  things  than  ordinarily,  as  this  is  a 
momentous  period  in  the  life  of  each  of  you.  Let  me  assure  you.  young 
gentlemen,  that  there  is  nothing  which  will  be  so  conducive  to  your 
professional  success  as  good  advice  from  older  engineers,  whether  they 
be  successful  men  or  not.  In  the  case  of  the  former,  they  can  tell  you 
what  they  did  in  order  to  reach  the  desired  goal ;  and  in  the  case  of  the 
latter,  you  can  learn  what  they  failed  to  do  and  what  mistakes  they 
made.  Hence  let  me  begin  my  suggestions  by  counseling  each  of  you 
to  become  intimately  acquainted  with  one  or  more  successful  engineers, 
and,  craving  their  advice  and  opinion  from  time  to  time,  follow  both. 

Young  men  just  leaving  their  alma  mater  naturally  feel  thai  the 
whole  world  is  before  them,  and  that  their  success  is  almost  an  assured 
fact;  but  I  tell  you  that  you  are  very  liable  to  find  it  otherwise,  that 
you  will  undoubtedly  experience  many  hard  knocks,  that  at  times  you 
will  feel  very  dubious  as  to  what  is  best  to  do,  and  that  you  will  often 
long  for  counsel  from  some  friendly  member  of  the  profession  whose 
opinion  you  can  trust. 

It  is  on  this  account  that  I  advise  you  to  become  acquainted  with 
your  brother  engineers  as  far  as  lies  in  your  power  and  to  impress 
upon  each  of  them  favorably  your  individuality,  that  later  on  you  may 
not  be  forgotten.  Time  spent  in  visiting  older  members  of  the  pro- 
fession is  by  no  means  wasted ;  therefore  take  it  whenever  you  can  do 
so  without  neglecting  your  duties ;  and  endeavor  to  confine  your  con- 
versation with  such  men  mainly  to  technical  subjects,  preferably  those 
in  which  they  are  specially  interested.  A  young  engineer  can  often  aid 
an  older  one  materially  by  assisting  him  in  some  of  his  calculations 
and  in  the  preparation  of  papers  for  technical  societies.  What  would 
often  be  drudgery  to  the  older  engineer  would  prove  to  be  valuable 
experience  to  the  younger,  consequently  never  hesitate  to  undertake, 
in  such  case,  tedious  computations  which  will  lead  eventually  to  valu- 
able deductions,  even  though  your  reward  be  apparently  nil.  An  engi- 
neer of  the  right  kind  (and  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  assure  you  that 


WADDELL.  421 

most  of  them  can  be  so  classed)  is  only  too  glad  to  give  full  credit  to  a 
younger  man  who  has  helped  him  in  his  investigations. 

Concerning  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  an  older  engineer's 
opinion  and  the  need  for  it,  I  can  speak  from  experience;  for  many  a 
time  have  I  received  kindly  help  and  encouragement  from  my  good 
friend,  Professor  Burr;  yet  in  the  old  days  when  we  were  associated 
together  at  Rensselaer,  being  of  nearly  the  same  age,  we  often  got 
beyond  our  depth  and  would  have  given  much  for  some  sound  advice 
from  engineers  of  high  standing;  but  unfortunately  it  was  not  at  our 
command.  I  can  look  back  upon  many  a  wasted  hour  in  my  early 
days,  when,  active,  energetic,  and  ambitious,  I  desired  most  earnestly 
to  devote  my  attention  to  investigations  the  results  of  which  would 
prove  useful  to  our  profession  and  would  tend  to  establish  my  repu- 
tation as  an  engineer  and  a  technical  writer.  But  alas !  there  was  no 
one  to  direct  my  energies  into  a  proper  channel  or  to  show  me  how  to 
employ  my  time. 

Enforced  idleness  for  an  engineer  is  the  greatest  curse  in  ex- 
istence ;  and  there  ought  to  be  no  excuse  for  a  member  of  our  profes- 
sion having  a  single,  necessarily-idle  hour;  because  he  should  always 
have  laid  out  for  the  future  more  things  professional  to  investigate 
and  accomplish  than  he  can  possibly  perform.  It  is  a  serious  thing 
for  an  energetic  young  fellow  (and  all  engineers  of  any  account,  both 
young  and  old,  are  energetic)  to  run  short  of  work  for  any  length  of 
time.  I  well  remember  a  period  of  eight  months  of  enforced  idleness  that 
I  experienced  a  few  years  after  graduating,  during  which  time  I  nearly 
wore  myself  out  with  worry  and  restlessness,  not  having  had  sufficient 
practical  experience  to  enable  me  to  write  more  than  a  paper  or  two. 
It  is  true  that  I  had  saved  up  quite  a  little  money,  enough  to  tide  me  over 
the  bad  times  without  having  to  appeal  to  my  father  for  assistance, 
and  that  during  that  period  I  obtained  a  pretty  sound  knowledge  of 
the  French  language;  nevertheless  I  succeeded  in  worrying  myself 
absolutely  ill.  I  assure  you  that  I  would  not  go  through  those  eight 
months  again  for  untold  wealth.  They  are  the  only  part  of  my  life 
that  I  look  back  upon  as  truly  unhappy. 

You  young  men  are,  in  a  way,  much  more  fortunate  than  I  was, 
in  that  I  started  my  professional  career  during  the  depressed  years 
of  75,  76,  and  77,  while  you  are  entering  upon  yours  at  the  most 
prosperous  time  ever  known  in  the  history  of  America.  Never  before 
were  engineers  in  such  demand,  never  before  was  the  compensation 
for  professional  services  so  good,  never  before  was  the  country  so 
wealthy,  and  never  before  were  the  prospects  for  the  future  so  bright. 
Our  great  republic  (and  believe  me,  although  alien  born,  I  can  truly 


422  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

appreciate  its  greatness)  has  entered  the  world's  arena  with  the  in- 
tention of  taking  quickly  the  first  place  among  nations;  and  in  the 
peaceful  strife  that  is  to  ensue,  American  engineers  of  all  lines  will 
be  found  in  the  van,  bearing  the  brunt  of  the  struggle  and,  even  in  the 
most  remote  corners  of  the  earth,  forcing  foreign  nations  to  adopt  our 
methods  and  to  purchase  the  manufactured  products  of  our  country. 

Ours  is  truly  the  greatest  of  all  of  the  professions!  With  it  none 
other  can  compare!  It,  and  it  alone,  is  essentially  the  profession  of 
progress !  To  whom  is  due  the  unparalleled  world-advancement  of  the 
last  half  century?  Who  are  the  men  who  have  developed  the  resources 
of  the  North  American  continent?  To  whom  are  we  indebted  for  all 
the  great  luxuries  of  modern  life?  To  these  questions  there  can  be 
but  one  answer : — the  civil  engineers,  using  the  term  in  its  true  and 
broad  sense,  so  as  to  include  all  engineers  except  the  military. 

Compared  with  all  other  professions,  ours  is  by  far  the  most  desir- 
able. Lawyers,  of  necessity,  lose  one-half  of  their  cases ;  therefore 
about  fifty  per  cent,  of  their  total  work  is  failure ;  while  all  engineering 
work  is,  or  should  be,  successful.  Half  of  the  time  lawyers  are  retained 
to  disguise  the  truth  or  so  to  distort  it  as  to  win  cases  for  their  clients, 
while  the  engineer  is  essentially  a  searcher  after  truth. 

The  doctor  too  often  gropes  blindly  in  the  dark,  using  tentative 
methods  and  relying  upon  nature  to  help  him  out  of  his  difficulties;  for 
medicine  is  anything  but  an  exact  science;  while  engineering  comes 
nearer  being  such  than  does  any  other  profession. 

The  military  man's  main  object  in  life  is  to  destroy,  while  the  engi- 
neer's is  to  construct. 

The  minister  deals  with  things  based  on  faith,  while  the  engineer 
in  all  his  works  is  governed  by  the  laws  of  nature,  which,  as  a  rule,  he 
understands  fairly  well,  and  with  which  he  must  comply  in  order  to  be 
successful. 

Civil  engineering  is  the  youngest  of  all  the  learned  professions ; 
and  until  quite  lately  many  people,  including  even  some  of  its  promi- 
nent members,  maintained  that  it  was  not  a  profession  at  all,  but  simply 
a  trade.  However,  all  that  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  engineers  are  now 
not  only  considered  to  be  professional  men,  but  are  looked  up  to  by 
the  populace.  "Straws  show  which  way  the  wind  blows,"  hence,  to 
learn  the  world's  opinion  of  engineering  and  the  civil  engineer,  we  can 
consult  the  light  literature  of  the  past  and  present.  It  is  not  many 
years  ago  that  the  English  novelists  sneered  at  the  engineer,  terming  him 
a  "greasy  mechanic"  and  placing  him  outside  the  pale  of  polite  society. 
At  that  time  American  novelists  either  simply  ignored  the  engineer 
by  leaving  him  out  of  their  dramatis  personae,  or,  when  he  did  come  in- 


WADDELL.  423 

cidentally  .into  the  plot,  considered  him  about  on  a  par  with  a  boss 
carpenter.  To-day  all  this  is  changed.  Many  of  the  prominent  modern 
novels  have  civil  engineers  for  their  heroes;  and  in  all  of  them  the 
members  of  the  engineering  profession  are  invariably  treated  with  the 
greatest  consideration.  In  France  and  in  French  literature  the  civil 
engineer  has  always  been  recognized  with  due  esteem,  as  is  witnessed  by 
the  works  of  Jules  Verne  and  other  French  writers.  There  is  perhaps 
good  reason  for  this,  because  the  civil  engineer  in  France  for  the  last 
hundred  years  has  always  been  a  polished,  highly  educated  gentleman, 
and  generally  a  graduate  of  a  school  of  world-wide  reputation. 

In  our  country  any  man  or  boy  who  can  use  a  surveying  instru- 
ment or  even  drag  a  chain  or  handle  a  rod,  has  the  privilege  of  dubbing 
himself  a  civil  engineer,  thus  lowering  the  profession  in  the  minds  of 
the  public,  which  generally  fails  to  distinguish  between  a  graduate 
engineer  and  one  who  has  risen  from  the  ranks.  Nevertheless,  nowa- 
days in  this  country  in  order  to  attain  anything  beyond  mediocre  suc- 
cess in  engineering,  a  young  man  must  be  a  graduate  of  a  technical 
school,  and  the  higher  the  reputation  of  the  school  the  better  are  his 
chances.  It  is  true  that  we  have  in  the  profession  many  prominent 
men  who  never  had  a  technical  school  training,  but  they  are  almost 
invariably  of  advanced  years. 

In  England  there  have  been  until  lately  no  special  schools  for 
engineers  in  the  opinion  of  writers  and  society  people;  nevertheless, 
his  education  by  the  crude  and  faulty  system  of  apprenticeship.  On 
this  account  there  may  have  been  some  reason  for  the  low  standing  of 
engineers  in  the  opinion  of  writers  and  society  people;  nevertheless, 
the  English  engineer  of  to-day  ranks  in  his  own  country  second  to  no 
other  professional  man.  Again,  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers 
of  Great  Britain  is  certainly  the  greatest  and  most  influential  engineer- 
ing society  in  the  world;  and  some  of  America's  most  eminent  engin- 
eers are  proud  to  be  able  to  write  M.  I.  C.  E.  after  their  names. 

Yes — there  is  in  my  mind  no  doubt  about  it — ours  is  the  most 
satisfactory  profession  of  them  all,  .notwithstanding  its  numerous  phys- 
ical hardships,  its  grave  responsibilities,  and  its  exacting  demands 
upon  one's  time  and  energies.  Never  once  since  graduation,  over  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  would  I  for  an  instant  have  considered  any 
proposition  to  abandon  the  profession  of  my  choice,  and  never  once 
have  I  regretted  that  choice — this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  my 
early  experience  was  anything  but  an  easy  one,  involving  as  it  did 
small  pay,  excessively  hard  work,  long  hours,  continued  exposure  to 
rain  and  snow,  occasionally  extreme  hunger,  unappreciated  effort,  and 
sometimes  imminent  peril  to  life.  Many  of  these  things  at  the  time 


424  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

were  intensely  disagreeable ;  but  now  I  look  back  upon  them  .with  great 
satisfaction,  feeling  that  they  were  indeed  blessings  in  disguise.  Hard 
knocks  tend  to  develop  a  man  and  to  bring  out  the  best  that  is  in  him; 
hence  if  in  the  near  future  any  one  of  you  have  occasion  to  feel  that 
the  world  is  treating  him  badly,  or  that  he  is  "out  of  luck,"  he  should 
not  worry  about  it,  but  should  proceed  upon  the  even  tenor  of  his  way, 
having  confidence  that  all  will  come  right  ere  long,  and  that  later  he 
will  have  occasion  to  feel  thankful  for  all  his  unpleasant  experiences. 

The  question  that  naturally  interests  you  most  just  now  is  what 
work  you  will  start  with  and  possibly  what  compensation  you  will  re- 
ceive ;  hence  a  few  suggestions  from  an  old  fellow  who  has  been  in 
harness  for  many  years  will  perhaps  be  acceptable. 

It  is  far  more  important  that. you  obtain  good  experience  than  that 
you  receive  at  the  outset  a  large  salary.  The  services  of  a  newly-fledged 
engineer  are  as  a  rule  of  little  or  no  account.  On  some  work  they  have 
a  positive  value,  on  other  work  they  are  worth  zero,  and  on  still  other 
work  they  have  a  negative  value.  The  higher  the  branch  of  engineer- 
ing that  the  recent  graduate  enters,  the  less  valuable  to  his  employers 
will  be  his  services.  For  instance,  in  any  work  of  surveying  the  young 
engineer  from  the  very  first  day  can  earn  as  much  as  a  teamster,  axe- 
man, rodman,  or  general  roustabout,  and  in  a  few  weeks  considerably 
more;  in  more  complicated  work,  such  as  waterworks,  sewerage,  or 
railroading,  for  a  few  months  at  least,  the  value  of  his  services  will  be 
approximately  zero;  while  in  extremely  complicated  work,  such  as 
bridge  designing,  the  drafting  that  he  does  at  first  either  has  to  be 
done  all  over  again,  or  requires  so  much  time  for  correction  as  to  ren- 
der it  practically  worthless ;  and  at  the  same  time  he  occupies  the  at- 
tention of  those  whose  services  cost  considerable  money  and  who 
possess  large  earning  capacity.  In  our  office  we  estimate  that  it  takes 
three  months  to  bring  the  value  of  the  recent  graduate's  services  up  to 
zero,  and  three  months  more  to  recoup  the  office  for  its  loss  on  his  in- 
struction ;  hence  it  is  not  until  after  six  months  that  his  work  really 
begins  to  become  remunerative. 

Each  of  you  must  judge  for  himself  what  class  of  work  is  best 
suited  to  his  needs  and  conditions.  Fortunately  for  you,  it  is  practic- 
able to-day  to  enter  any  branch  of  engineering  that  you  may  choose, 
as  engineers  of  all  kinds  are  in  great  demand,  everybody  having  more 
work  than  he  can  really  do  in  the  short  time  that  is  almost  invariably  al- 
lowed on  the  engineering  portion  of  enterprises. 

Some  of  you  are  perhaps  in  need  of  money,  possibly  to  pay  debts 
incurred  in  obtaining  your  education.  These  I  would  advise  to  take 
positions  on  railroad  surveys,  where  good  salaries  are  paid  at  the  out- 


WADDELL.  425 

set,  and  where  up  to  a  certain  point  promotion  is  rapid  for  a  man  of  the 
right  type.  Or  if  field  work  be  not  to  your  taste,  comparatively  large 
earnings  can  be  made  at  once  by  entering  as  draftsman  the  employ  of 
a  bridge  manufacturing  company.  Here  the  promotion  is  slow,  and 
the  professional  advancement  is  still  slower,  as  it  is  naturally  to  the 
company's  advantage  to  keep  a  man  continuously  at  one  kind  of  work 
as  soon  as  he  becomes  proficient  in  it.  Comparatively  good  positions 
can  be  obtained  by  joining  the  engineer  corps  of  a  large  railroad  com- 
pany, and  working  up  step  by  step;  but  the  progress  is  slow,  and  the 
plums  that  can  be  reached  at  the  top  of  that  tree  are  only  two  or  three 
in  number. 

It  is  not  a  bad  idea  to  take  a  subordinate  position  in  some  large 
manufacturing  concern,  and  work  up ;  for  there  the  possibilities  of 
promotion  are  better,  and  there  is  always  a  chance  of  making  your 
services  so  valuable  that  you  will  eventually  be  taken  into  the  company. 

Government  positions  are  fair  enough  in  a  way;  but  they  are  diffi- 
cult to  obtain,  and  do  not  offer  much  of  a  field  to  an  ambitious  man. 
About  the  poorest  and  most  unsatisfactory  position  that  one  can  take 
is  in  the  employ  of  a  city,  not  only  because  the  pay  is  generally  small, 
but  mainly  because  the  tenure  of  office  is  so  uncertain.  Believe  me,  I 
would  prefer  a  position  as  boss  grader  on  a  dump  to  that  of  city 
engineer,  and  I  would  rather  work  as  a  navvy  with  a  pick  and  shovel 
than  accept  a  subordinate  position  in  the  engineering  department  of  a 
city.  Avoid  all  political  positions;  they  are  badly  paid,  insecure,  and 
in  every  way  unsatisfactory.  It  degrades  a  man,  in  his  own  estimation 
at  least,  to  feel  that  he  is  at  the  mercy  of  every  log-rolling,  wirepulling 
ward-politician  who  may  for  any  reason  take  offense  against  him.  En- 
gineering positions  in  municipalities  ought  to  be  placed  above  the  con- 
trol of  politics ;  but  how  to  accomplish  such  a  desideratum  is  more  than 
I  can  suggest. 

As  far  as  the  attainment  of  knowledge  and  ultimate  high  advance- 
ment are  concerned,  the  best  positions  to  take  are  those  in  the  employ 
of  consulting  engineers  of  established  reputation.  Ordinarily  these  are 
very  hard  to  get ;  but  at  present  it  is  otherwise.  In  England  a  young 
man  has  to  pay  handsomely  for  the  privilege  of  entering  such  an  office 
and  working  there  for  several  years  without  any  salary  whatsoever; 
but  this  custom  does  not  exist  in  America,  owing  to  the  fact  that  such 
good  training  is  given  in  our  technical  schools. 

No  matter  what  branch  of  engineering  you  choose,  aim  always  to 
obtain  valuable  experience  rather  than  large  pay;  the  latter  will  follow 
as  a  matter  of  course  after  the  former  is  acquired. 


426  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

If  I  were  once  more  a  young  man  just  leaving  my  alma  mater,  and 
if  I  were  not  cramped  for  means,  I  would,  for  at  least  five  or  six  years, 
work  in  subordinate  capacities,  for  a  few  months  at  a  time  in  each 
position,  leaving  just  as  soon  as  I  had  mastered  the  principal  engineer- 
ing features  of  the  work,  or  just  as  soon  as  the  daily  attainment  of 
knowledge  failed  to  satisfy  my  desire,  and  taking  up  another  line  of 
work,  in  order  to  secure  for  myself  a  sound,  practical  knowledge  of  a 
number  of  branches  of  engineering.  Meanwhile,  I  would  be  deciding 
on  my  specialty  and  gradually  turning  my  energies  towards  the  chosen 
line  of  work,  to  the  ultimate  exclusion  of  all  other  lines;  and  I  would 
not  rest  content  until  after  I  had  acquainted  myself  with  every  minor 
detail  of  my  adopted  specialty,  so  that,  after  settling  down  to  a  private 
practice  of  my  own,  I  should  feel  master  of  the  situation  on  each  new 
piece  of  work  as  it  comes  up,  and  should  never  have  any  reason  to 
•fear  that  my  ignorance  of  any  detail  would  prejudice  me  in  the  opin- 
ion of  my  clients.  It  would  take  courage  and  plenty  of  it  to  follow  such 
a  course  as  this;  but  the  ends  to  be  attained  would  be  worth  the  effort. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  for  a  young  engineer  to  choose  a  specialty  before 
he  has  had  several  years  of  general  experience.  What  a  source  of  dis- 
satisfaction it  must  be  for  a  middle-aged  man  to  feel  that  he  has  chosen 
the  wrong  line  of  work,  and  that  it  is  too  late  to  make  a  change! 

It  is  possible  that  I  am  wrong  in  giving  you  advice  based  upon  the 
supposition  that  you  all  desire  intensely  to  rise  high  in  the  profession, 
and  that  you  will  eventually  reach  the  top  of  the"  tree.  It  is  true  that  all 
cannot  be  first  and  that  all  have  not  equal  ability ;  or,  to  quote  the  senti- 
ments if  not  the  exact  words  of  a  poet  who  is  to-day  almost  forgotten, 

"Order  is  Nature's  law,  and  this  confessed, 
Some  are  and  will  be  greater  than  the  rest." 

Nevertheless,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  better  to  strive  constantly  for  a  high 
ideal  and  fail  to  attain  it  completely,  rather  than  to  jog  along  contented 
with  small  things  and  mild  ambitions.  At  any  rate,  the  actual  results 
•  attained  by  the  former  method  are  almost  sure  to  exceed  materially  those 
accomplished  by  the  latter. 

From  personal  experience,  I  can  assure  you  that  it  is  within  your 
power  to  attain  ultimately  your  heart's  desire  for  professional  advance- 
ment and  distinction,  no  matter  how  lofty  your  ambition  may  be,  pro- 
vided that  you  strive  for  it  faithfully  and  never  despair.  To  be  a  suc- 
cessful engineer,  one  should  establish  in  his  own  mind  (and  generally 
keep  them  strictly  there)  certain  objects  to  be  attained  in  both  the  im- 
mediate and  the  distant  future,  adding  to  them  from  time  to  time  as  his 
experience  increases,  and  never  resting  content  until  they  'are  accom- 
plished. Earnestness  of  purpose  is  a  sine  qua  non  for  success ;  with- 


WADDELL.  427 

out  it  one  may  as  well  consider  himself  at  the  outset  out  of  the  race. 
Above  all  things,  don't  work  by  the  clock  and  quit  the  moment  time  is 
up;  for  if  you  do,  you  will  soon  establish  for  yourself  with  your  em- 
ployers and  associates  the  reputation  of  being  a  mere  time-server.  I 
have  on  several  occasions  seen  a  navvy  with  a  pick  poised  for  a  blow, 
drop  the  tool  upon  the  first  blast  of  the  whistle  announcing  quitting 
time.  Such  an  action  may  be  excusable  in  an  ignorant  workman,  but 
it  would  not  be  so  in  a  member  of  the  civil  engineering  profession. 

Some  engineers  pay  their  assistants  for  overtime,  while  others  do 
not.  I  have  tried  both  ways,  and  am  able  to  say  which  is  the  better 
method;  and  this  is  my  judgment:  The  overtime  system  is  more  sat- 
isfactory to  the  average  draftsman,  and  at  the  same  time  is  really  better 
for  the  employer;  because  he  then  pays  for  only  the  hours  actually  spent 
on  the  work,  counting  out  all  lost  time,  and  because  he  feels  no  hesita- 
tion in  asking  his  men  to  work  nights  and  even  Sundays  when  occasion 
demands.  Nevertheless,  I  have  noticed  that  the  young  engineers  who 
have  risen  the  most  rapidly  are  those  who  have  never  been  paid  for 
overtime ;  and  this  stands  to  reason,  because  an  employer  of  the  right  kind 
feels  that  in  common  decency  he  must  promote  rapidly  any  employee 
who  shows  such  an  interest  in  the  work  as  to  labor  overtime  without 
thought  of  extra  compensation. 

In  all  your  work  cultivate  to  the  utmost  the  attributes  of  reliability 
and  accuracy,  and  never  let  any  computations  be  used  unchecked,  the 
checking  being  done  either  by  an  independent  computer  or  by  an  en- 
tirely different  method  of  figuring.  I  cannot  impress  upon  you  too 
earnestly  the  importance  of  a  thorough  check  on  all  work.  Without  it, 
mistakes,  and  sometimes  serious  ones,  are  sure  to  occur,  for  the  man  who 
makes  no  mistakes  is  the  man  who  does  no  work. 

Some  students  of  technical  schools  look  down  upon  drafting  as 
being  infra  dig.,  and  think  it  not  worth  while  to  perfect  themselves 
therein,  assuming  that  immediately  after  graduation  they  will  obtain 
positions  outranking  those  of  draftsmen.  No  greater  mistake  than  this 
can  be  made.  If  any  of  you  have  gone  through  school  with  this  idea 
in  mind,  I  advise  that  before  beginning  actual  practice  you  take  a  post- 
graduate course  in  the  mechanical  part  of  drafting.  It  is  by  no  means 
enough  to  know  how  to  outline  a  design;  it  is  absolutely  essential  that 
you  be  able  to  finish  the  drawings  neatly  and  thoroughly,  so  that  the 
blue  prints  made  from  your  tracings  will  be  a  credit  to  the  office  where 
they  were  prepared.  Drafting  is  by  no  means  beneath  the  dignity  of  an 
engineer,  and  unless  he  be  truly  proficient  therein  he  is  likely  to  fail  to 
attain  success. 


428  ROSE   POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

This  reminds  me  of  an  amusing  incident  that  occurred  the  other 
day  in  my  practice,  and  I  shall  relate  it  as  an  illustration  of  the  point 
I  am  trying  to  make. 

A  middle-aged  engineer  of  considerable  experience  but  who  was 
temporarily  out  of  work,  applied  to  me  for  a  position  in  our  office,  vol- 
unteering several  times  the  information  that  he  was  an  engineer  and 
not  a  draftsman.  He  dwelt  so  much  upon  this  point  that  I  felt  con- 
strained to  inform  him  that  nearly  all  the  draftsmen  in  our  employ  were 
engineers  and  several  of  them  very  good  ones  indeed.  Although  sadly 
in  want  of  office  assistance,  we  had  no  .position  to  offer  the  gentleman. 

There  is  no  part  of  an  engineer's  work  that  is  infra  dig.,  and  I  as- 
sure you,  young  gentlemen,  that  there  are  many  valuable  things  which 
you  can  learn  from  the  illiterate  workman  who  labors  in  the  ditch  with 
his  pick  and  shovel,  or  who  mixes  concrete  on  the  platform.  There  is 
no  part  of  construction  work  that  is  of  too  menial  a  nature  for  you 
to  learn.  'Knowledge  of  every  kind  will  stand  you  in  good  stead 
sooner  or  later.  There  is  a  certain  amount  of  drudgery  that  all  have 
to  do,  and  it  should  always  be  done  willingly  and  good  naturedly.  The 
harder  you  work  on  it,  the  sooner  it  will  be  finished ;  therefore  get  right 
at  it  and  do  not  shirk. 

Every  young  engineer  should  make  a  practice  of  reading  the  leading 
technical  papers,  at  first  covering  almost  the  entire  practice  of  engineer- 
ing, but  gradually  omitting  those  articles  in  which  he  is  not  peculiarly 
interested,  until  finally,  after  his  specialty  is  chosen,  his  reading  will 
cover  only  the  items  of  general  news  and  those  papers  which  pertain  to 
his  particular  line  of  work  and  thought.  One  must  discriminate  in 
reading  of  all  kinds,  for  otherwise  much  valuable  time  will  be  wasted. 
There  is  certainly  a  deal  of  technical  trash  written ;  hence  it  is  necessary 
to  learn  how  to  separate  the  wheat  from  the  chaff. 

Are  some  of  you  congratulating  yourselves  with  the  thought  that 
your  four  years  of  hard  study  are  at  last  over,  and  that  after  you  enter 
the  actual  practice  of  engineering  there  will  be  no  further  need  for 
study?  If  so,  please  proceed  at  once  to  disabuse  your  minds  of  this  idea, 
for  it  is  fundamentally  and  essentially  wrong.  If  you  fail  to  keep  up 
and  to  carry  on  your  studies,  good-bye  to  all  hopes  for  professional  dis- 
tinction or  even  mediocre  success.  Engineers  have  to  be  students  all 
their  lives,  and  the  younger  they  are  the  greater  their  necessity  for  study- 
ing from  books.  Believe  me,  you  have  still  a  great  deal  to  learn; 
therefore  I  advise  each  of  you  to  devote  at  least  one  hour  per  day,  or 
preferably  two  hours,  to  the  continuation  of  your  technical  studies  and 
to  the  reviewing  of  your  mathematics,  both  pure  and  applied.  The  day 
when  you  will  no  longer  be  able  to  continue  such  studies  will  come  only 


WADDELL.  429 

too  soon;    consequently  I   counsel  you,  while  you  are  still  young,  to 
devote  to  them  what  time  you  can  spare. 

Lay  out  in  consultation  with  some  professional  friend  a  course  of 
study  in  both  theoretical  and  practical  subjects,  and  stick  to  it  con- 
scientiously.- Set  a  certain  time  for  a  certain  amount  of  reading,  and  if 
you  fail  to  cover  it  in  the  given  period,  work  harder  in  the  next  period 
so  as  to  catch  up  with  your  programme.  No  matter  what  your  oc- 
cupation may  be,  you  will  be  able  to  find  time  for  study  as  long  as  you 
continue  to  be  an  employee,  because  no  employer  can  expect  to  occupy 
more  than  a  reasonable  amount  of  your  time  in  excess  of  the  usual 
hours  of  labor,  even  if  he  does  compensate  you  for  it  with  extra  pay. 

Study  well  the  English  language  and  obtain  a  thorough  command 
of  it,  in  order  that  you  may  be  able  to  speak  and  to  write  it  with  con- 
ciseness and  vigor.  Perfect  yourself  in  style  by  reading  well  written 
books,  even  if  they  come  under  the  denomination  of  light  literature. 
A  little  of  the  latter  affords  relaxation,  and,  when  really  good,  can  do 
no  harm  to  a  professional  man,  unless  he  becomes  so  addicted  to  its 
perusal  as  to  neglect  more  important  reading.  Nowadays  there  are 
many  American  and  Canadian  writers  of  good  fiction,  whose  command 
of  the  English  language  is  excellent,  hence,  there  are  plenty  of  good, 
interesting  books  from  which  to  choose. 

As  a  rule  the  graduate  engineer  has  no  time  to  devote  to  the  study 
of  foreign  languages;  and  it  is  questionable  whether  it  be  advisable  to 
devote  to  them  much  time  at  the  technical  schools.  The  plea  for  their 
retention  is  that  there  are  many  good  technical  books  in  these  languages 
that  the  student  ought  to  be  able  to  read.  My  reply  to  this  is  that  there 
are  more  good  technical  books  in  the  English  language  than  a  man  can 
ever  find  time  to  study,  and  that  all  valuable  technical  works  in  for- 
eign languages  are  soon  translated  into  English.  In  my  opinion,  a 
knowledge  of  French  is  only  a  gentlemanly  accomplishment,  and  one 
that  a  man  is  very  liable  to  lose  for  want  of  use,  and  a  knowledge  of 
German  is  of  no  advantage  whatsoever  to  an  American  engineer.  There 
is  one  foreign  language,  though,  that  I  believe  it  would  be  a  good  policy 
to  teach  to  technical  students,  and  that  is  the  Spanish;  but  the  instruc- 
tion given  in  it,  to  be  of  value  at  all,  should  be  so  thorough  as  to  enable 
each  student  to  read,  write,  and  speak  it  with  ease  and  fairly  correctly. 
Is  such  a  course  practicable?  I  answer  most  decidedly,  "yes,"  but  the 
methods  of  teaching  foreign  languages  now  in  vogue  in  technical  and 
most  other  schools  would  have  to  be  abandoned  and  a  more  practicable 
method  adopted  instead.  The  reason  for  teaching  Spanish  in  tech- 
nical schools  is  that  American  engineers  are  beginning  to  monopolize 
the  principal  engineering  positions  in  the  Latin-American  countries; 


430  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

and,  as  the  latter  develop,  the  demand  in  those  countries  for  American 
engineers  will  surely  increase.  A  man  going  to  such  a  country  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  the  Spanish  language  is  badly  handicapped. 
Eventually  he  will  learn  by  contact  enough  of  it  to  get  along ;  but  owing 
to  lack  of  time  for  study  and  the  unavoidable  disability  of  advancing 
years,  he  will  never  be  a  master  of  even  the  rudiments  of  the  language. 
It  is  far  easier  for  a  boy  to  learn  a  foreign  language  than  it  is  for  a 
middle-aged  or  elderly  man.  Concerning  this  matter  I  am  speaking 
from  experience,  because  for  the  past  three  years  a  large  percentage 
of  my  professional  work  has  been  located  in  Mexico  and  Cuba,  and  I 
have  spent  fully  one-third  of  that  time  in  the  former  country.  How 
often  have  I  wished  that  I  had  studied  Spanish  properly  in  my  youth 
instead  of  wasting  my  time  on  Latin  and  Greek,  both  of  which  I  have 
long  forgotten! 

In  laying  out  a  course  of  post-graduate  study,  be  careful  to  choose 
only  those  subjects  that  will  have  a  practical  value,  and  beware  of 
abstruse  mathematical  calculations,  for  these  too  often  are  based  on 
false  hypotheses  and  in  consequence  produce  unreliable  results.  Mathe- 
matics should  be  treated  as  a  servant  and  not  worshipped  as  a  god ! 
Some  men  appear  to  think  that  a  technical  paper,  to  be  of  any  account, 
should  be  filled  with  abstruse  mathematical  calculations,  on  the  same 
principle  which  many  old  English  writers  adopted  when  they  interlard- 
ed their  writings  with  numerous  Latin  and  Greek  quotations,  simply 
to  show  that  they  had  received  a  polished  education.  This  is  all 
wrong;  for  the  less  mathematics  a  technical  paper  contains  and  the 
simpler  the  mathematics,  the  better,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  paper.  Now 
don't  go  off  with  the  idea  that  I  am  not  a  believer  in  the  higher  math- 
ematics and  in  the  necessity  for  their  study.  Although  as  a  rule  the 
mathematics  in  an  engineer's  practice  are  of  a  very  simple  and  elementary 
character,  yet  there  occasionally  occurs  a  problem  which  will  set  him 
to  thinking  and  to  brushing  up  on  the  mathematics  of  his  school  days. 
It  was  only  a  few  weeks  ago  that  I  ran  across  one  of  these  cases,  and 
I  shall  now  describe  it  to  you  in  order  to  illustrate  a  practical  man's 
habit  of  making  short  cuts  to  obtain  results. 

From  a  point  on  .a  bridge  tangent  out  in  a  river,  three  hundred 
and  forty  feet  from  its  intersection  with  a  base  line  which  cuts  it  at 
an  obtuse  angle,  starts  a  twelve-thirty  curve.  The  problem  was  to 
locate  exactly  the  intersection  of  the  curve  and  the  base  line.  I  made 
several  attempts  by  both  trigonometry  and  analytics  to  get  an  exact 
equation,  but  each  time  found  that  I  had  too  many  unknown  quantities 
for  the  number  of  my  equations.  While  I  was  thoroughly  convinced 
that  an  exact,  direct  solution  of  the  problem  was  feasible,  for  lack  of 


WADDELL.  431 

time  I  simply  fudged  it  by  establishing  an  equation  of  only  one  un- 
known quantity,  viz.,  the  angle  included  between  two  radii  of  the  curve, 
one  passing  through  the  starting  point  and  the  other  through  the  inter- 
section of  the  curve  and  the  base  line.  One  side  of  this  equation  in- 
volved the  sine  of  this  angle  and  the  other  side  the  cosine ;  consequently 
by  measuring  the  angle  very  accurately  on  the  plot  and  making  three 
or  four  trial  substitutions  in  the  equation,  I  was  able  to  obtain  its  true 
value  with  ail  the  necessary  accuracy.  I  had  given  the  problem  to  one  of 
our  assistants,  a  bright  young  fellow  who  graduated  last  year  from 
the  Industrial  University  of  Arkansas  (an  institution,  by  the  way,  which 
has  turned  out  two  or  three  engineers  who  are  second  to  none  in  their 
specialties)  ;  and  he  by  taking  plenty  of  time  succeeded  in  rinding  the 
exact  equation,  but  it  was  an  appalling  one.  Both  equations  were  used 
in  preparing  the  construction  diagram,  and  afforded  an  excellent  check 
on  the  correctness  of  the  calculations. 

Let  me  give  you  another  example  of  practical  mathematics.  Sev- 
eral years  ago  we  had  occasion  to  send  as  transitman  on  the  construc- 
tion of  a  large  bridge  a  young  engineer  new  to  our  employ.  One  of 
the  first  difficult  problems  that  he  encountered  was  the  daily  determi- 
nation of  the  various  errors  in  position  of  a  pneumatic  caisson  during 
the  process  of  sinking.  The  mathematical  problem  was  too  much  for 
him ;  and  he  telegraphed  to  our  office  for  a  demonstration.  My  partner 
replied  that  I  was  then  on  my  way  to  the  bridge  site  and  would  give  him 
the  information  desired;  hence  upon  my  arrival  I  found  the  problem 
awaiting  me.  Hitherto  I  had  left  to  my  resident  engineers  the  task  of  ascer- 
taining daily  the  position  of  each  caisson,  and  they  had  always  solved 
the  problem  by  some  means  or  other  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  them- 
selves; consequently  I  had  never  before  had  occasion  to  demonstrate 
the  method.  I  asked  the  young  man  to  let  me  see  his  figures,  and  found 
that  he  had  accumulated  a  mass  of  sines,  cosines,  and  tangents  of  the 
utmost  complication  without  obtaining  any  result.  I  thereupon,  sat  down 
and  worked  out  in  an  hour  or  two  a  practical  solution,  then  handed  it 
over  to  him  to  check.  He  did  not  get  very  far  with  his  figures  before 
he  exclaimed,  "Here,  this  is  all  wrong.  You  have  assumed  two  lines  as 
parallel  when  they  are  evidently  not  so;  for  if  they  were,  there  would 
be  no  error  in  the  direction  of  the  horizontal  axis  of  the  caisson."  To 
this  I  replied,  "Yes,  I  know  the  two  lines  are  not  truly  parallel,  but 
how  much  error  have  I  made  in  the  demonstration  by  assuming  them  so  ? 
Moreover,  granting  that  the  lines  are  not  even  approximately  parallel, 
the  erroneously  calculated  error  of  position  will  be  close  enough  for  an 
approximate  correction  during  the  next  day's  sinking,  and  in  your  next 
solution  of  the  problem  the  effect  of  the  false  assumption  will  be  almost 


432  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

infinitesimal."  Since  that  time  all  of  our  resident  engineers  have  been 
furnished  with  blue  prints  containing  this  "faulty"  mathematical 
demonstration;  and  some  day,  when  I  have  time,  I  am  going  to  insert 
it  in  a  second  edition  of  De  Pontibus. 

It  is  strange  what  a  distaste  practical  engineers  develop  for  long 
and  complicated  formulae  and  for  making  intricate  mathematical  inves- 
tigations. This  is  an  excellent  reason  for  giving  in  technical  schools 
thorough  courses  in  both  pure  and  applied  mathematics,  and  for  young 
engineers  to  continue  their  mathematical  studies  after  graduation. 

Every  engineer  should  keep  constantly  in  his  pocket  a  note-book 
in  which  to  record,  as  soon  as  he  thinks  of  them,  things  to  be  done ; 
and  whenever  he  runs  short  of  work,  even  for  a  few  minutes,  he  should 
look  over  the  list  and  pick  out  something  that  can  be  finished  during  the 
interval.  As  soon  as  one  of  the  items  has  been  attended  to,  he  should 
draw  a  line  through  it;  and  when  the  list  gets  too  long  and  too  much 
scratched,  he  should  transfer  the  remaining  items  to  a  new  list  and 
start  afresh.  It  is  surprising  how  much  can  be  accomplished  in  this 
way.  Some  people  claim  that  this  habit  is  absolutely  destructive  to 
one's  memory.  This  may  be  true ;  but  it  is  a  fact  that  a  busy  engineer's 
memory  is  the  most  unreliable  feature  in  his  entire  constitution;  hence 
the  damage  done  by  the  note  book  is  of  little  consequence. 

One  should  endeavor  to  utilize  all  of  his  spare  time  in  either  work  or 
amusement,  as  time  simply  idled  away  is  an  absolute  loss  to  both  one- 
self and  the  public.  An  engineer  should  not  even  understand  the  ex- 
pression "to  kill  time."  As  I  often  tell  people  who  delay  me  unneces- 
sarily by  failure  to  comply  with  instructions,  "Time  is  the  most  valu- 
able thing  I  possess,  and  you  have  robbed  me  of  some  of  it  by  not  doing 
as  you  were  requested."  Even  when  traveling  one  can  utilize  his  spare 
time;  for  example,  this  address  was  blocked  out  on  a  Pullman  car  and 
written  in  hotels  during  a  business  trip  in  the  South  about  a  month  ago. 

It  is  an  excellent  plan  for  an  engineer  to  keep  a  diary  and  record 
therein  daily  (not  weekly  or  even  on  alternate  days)  all  events  of  impor- 
tance, work  done,  progress  of  construction,  etc.  Such  a  diary  will  prove 
of  great  service  in  many  ways,  especially  on  field  work. 

Every  young  engineer  should  join  the  leading  technical  society  in 
his  branch  of  the  profession,  starting  in  as  a  Junior  immediately  after 
graduation  and  changing  grade  as  soon  as  he  qualifies,  until  he  reaches 
the  highest.  He  should  also  take  an  interest  in  the  Society's  affairs 
and  contribute  to  its  proceedings  by  writing  for  it  papers  descriptive 
of  his  work,  or  recording  the  results  of  original  investigations,  or 
compiling  scattered  knowledge.  Don't  write  until  you  have  some- 


WADDELL.  433 

thing  interesting  and  valuable  to  present;  but  make  it  your  business  to 
find  something  of  the  kind  as  soon  as  possible. 

It  is  a  good  thing  for  a  young  engineer,  after  he  has  been  from 
three  to  five  years  in  practice,  to  spend  a  year  or  two  in  teaching  engi- 
neering in  a  technical  school,  for  no  experience  can  impress  things  on 
one's  mind  so  thoroughly  as  does  teaching;  besides,  a  year  or  two  thus 
employed  offers  the  young  engineer  an  excellent  opportunity  to  make 
investigations  based  on  his  practical  experience,  thus  contributing  to  the 
general  fund  of  professional  knowledge  as  well  as  aiding  to  establish 
his  reputation  as  an  investigator  and  a  technical  writer.  It  does  not  do, 
however,  to  spend  many  years  at  teaching,  unless  one  intends  to  make 
it  his  life's  work.  No  greater  mistake  can  be  made  than  to  start  teach- 
ing in  an  engineering  school  immediately  after  graduation.  The 
newly-fledged  alumnus  is  fit  to  teach  no  part  of  the  curriculum,  un- 
less it  be  pure  mathematics,  and  he  could  teach  even  that  much  better 
after  having  had  a  few  years  of  practical  engineering  experience. 

Every  engineer  who  has  any  literary  gift  whatsoever  should 
cherish  the  ambition  to  write  a  technical  book.  Good  technical  books 
are  needed  to-day,  and  will  always  be  in  demand.  Their  lives  are  of 
necessity  short,  as  practice  is  constantly  changing;  but  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  design  and  construction  never  change;  therefore 
he  who  deals  with  these  in  his  writings  will  produce  works  that  will 
continue  to  be  useful  perhaps  long  after  he  has  passed  away. 

In  your  practice  do  not  hesitate  to  try  new  methods  or  to  depart 
from  established  custom,  provided  that  after  thorough  consideration 
you  feel  sure  that  the  departure  would  be  a  wise  one  and  in  the  line 
of  improvement.  If  all  engineers  followed  precedent,  how  little 
progress  would  be  effected!  Should  you,  peradventure,  come  to  grief 
in  any  of  your  experiments  or  departures  from  the  beaten  track,  don't 
try  to  hide  your  failure,  but  publish  it  generously  so  that  others  may 
be  warned  by  your  experience.  Believe  me,  the  confession  of  such 
a  failure  will  not  harm  you  in  the  least,  but  will  give  others  confi- 
dence in  your  honesty  and  courage. 

In  all  that  you  do,  remember  that  you  have  the  reputation  of 
the  greatest  of  all  professions  to  uphold,  that  your  integrity  must  ever 
be  beyond  question,  and  that  there  is  never  an  excuse  for  untruth 
of  any  kind.  Business  shrewdness  is  all  very  well  in  its  way,  especi- 
ally for  those  who  go  into  contracting;  but  falsehood  is  always  need- 
less. On  the  other  hand,  an  uncompromising  bluntness  is  unneces- 
sary; and,  in  dealing  with  people,  a  cultivation  of  policy  and  tact  is 
a  virtue.  Because  you  think  a  man  is  a  fool  that  is  no  reason  for 
telling  him  so;  and,  when  you  see  that  an  individual  is  cherishing 


434  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

some  pet  notion  which  is  erroneous,  it  is  far  better  to  lead  him 
gently  to  a  recognition  of  his  error  than  it  would  be  to  tell  him  im- 
periously that  he  is  wrong,  or  that  he  does  not  understand  the  matter. 
Policy  and  tact  are  just  as  essential  to  success  in  engineering  as  are 
ability,  energy,  and  integrity.  By  means  of  the  last  three  attributes 
one  is  enabled  to  do  his  work  thoroughly  and  well,  but  it  takes  the 
two  former  to  enable  him  to  secure  it. 

Never  repudiate  a  promise  or  engagement  of  any  kind,  but  per- 
form what  you  have  agreed  to  do,  even  at  pecuniary  loss  to  yourself. 
If  you  adhere  strictly  to  this  rule,  it  is  evident  that  it  will  be  necessary 
for  you  to  beware  of  making  rash  or  hasty  promises. 

I  had  intended  speaking  to  you  at  length  upon  the  subject  of 
engineering  ethics,  but  time  will  not  permit.  It  is  a  matter  which  is 
still  in  embryo.  We  have  no  established  code  of  ethics  in  our  pro- 
fession; consequently,  until  the  solons  who  are  now  discussing  the 
matter  decide  upon  one,  all  that  an  engineer  can  do  is  to  treat  squarely 
everybody  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact,  to  try  to  make  others 
happy  whenever  it  is  possible,  and  always  to  act  according  to  the  dictates 
of  his  conscience. 

No  matter  how  small  your  earnings  may  be,  always  endeavor 
to  save  and  put  in  bank  a  portion  of  them,  for  the  money  thus  saved 
will  assuredly  prove  useful  some  day.  Avoid  fancy  investments  of 
your  savings  and  dabbling  in  projects  that  promise  enormous  profits. 
They  nearly  always  fail,  and  the  money  invested  is  usually  all  lost, 
with  occasionally  Considerably  more.  Engineers  do  not  make  good 
investors,  because  their  attention  is  so  devoted  to  their  profession 
that  they  fail  to  obtain  the  necessary  experience  to  care  properly  for 
their  possessions.  It  is  far  better  to  invest  in  good  first-mortgages  or  even 
government  bonds  than  to  sink  your  earnings  in  the  most  promising 
schemes.  In  this  matter  heed  the  advice  of  one  who  speaks  from  sad 
experience. 

If  one  is  in  the  employ  of  a  good,  substantial,  manufacturing 
or  contracting  company,  it  is  well  to  invest  at  least  a  portion  of  his  sav- 
ings in  the  stock  and  securities  of  that  company,  especially  if  these 
be  offered  at  a  low  figure  as  an  inducement  to  the  young  man  to  take 
an  interest  in  his  work.  Such  an  investment  tends  to  the  employee's 
advancement,  and  may  eventually  lead  to  a  high  official  position.  An 
excellent  example  of  the  good  effects  of  such  a  system  is  given  by  the 
Carnegie  Steel  Company,  most  of  the  present  officers  of  which  started 
in  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  in  the  company's  employ,  and  worked 
their  way  up  by  becoming  stockholders.  In  spite  of  all  the  talk  one 
hears  about  soulless  corporations,  good,  efficient,  faithful,  and  willing 


WADDELL.  435 

service  is  nearly  always  recognized  and  retained;  hence  I  would  by 
no  means  discourage  any  young  engineer  from  working  for  a  large 
manufacturing  company  which  employs  civil  engineers. 

Make  a  practice  of  studying  true  economy  in  your  designing. 
It  is  far  better  to  build  a  structure  which  is  cheap  and  has  no  pre- 
tensions to  permanency,  rather  than  a  quasi-permanent  one  that  is 
cheapened  by  ignoring  the  first  principles  of  design,  and  that  will  surely 
wear  out  or  fail  sooner  or  later  on  this  account. 

The  writing  of  specifications  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks 
that  you  will  encounter  in  your  practice.  At  first  it  will  be  best  for 
you  to  adopt,  if  possible  in  ioto,  the  standard  specifications  of  older 
engineers,  or  use  these  as  a  guide  in  preparing  your  own,  until  such  time 
as  you  can  produce  some  which  will  be  better  than  any  others.  Don't 
make  changes,  though,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  producing  something 
original,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  effecting  improvements.  Specifica- 
tions should  be  clear,  concise,  complete,  and  free  from  all  unnecessary 
repetition. 

Study  the  science  or  art  of  systemization,  for  it  will  aid  you  ma- 
terially in  your  practice.  If  it  be  not  improper  in  an  address  of  this 
kind  for  the  speaker  to  quote  from  one  of  his  own  published  works,  I 
would  like  to  repeat  the  following  from  the  chapter  on  "First  Principles 
of  Designing"  in  my  "De  Pontibus": 

"The  systemization  of  all  that  one  does  in  connection  with  his 
professional  work  is  one  of  the  most  important  steps  that  can  be  taken 
towards  the  attainment  of  success." 

If  you  have  the  opportunity,  do  not  fail  to  take  post-graduate  de- 
grees or  any  other  degrees  or  professional  distinctions  that  are  within 
your  reach.  They  cannot  possibly  do  you  any  harm,  are  a  source  of 
great  satisfaction  to  the  recipient,  and  carry  weight  with  most  of  the 
men  whom  one  meets. 

I  may  get  into  trouble  by  stating  it,  but  I  am  firmly  convinced  that 
early  marriage  is  not  conducive  to  a  successful  career  in  engineering, 
for  the  reason  that  it  confines  a  young  man  too  much  to  one  locality  and 
causes  him  to  strive  for  the  almighty  dollar  rather  than  for  ultimate 
professional  advancement. 

And  now  before  closing  there  is  possibly  an  apology  due  my  hear- 
ers for  the  marked  personality  of  this  address.  If  so,  please  consider 
the  same  made  most  truly  and  humbly.  In  writing  it,  I  felt  that  I 
could  get  nearer  to  you  all  by  referring  occasionally  to  my  own  experi- 
ence, dropping  all  formality,  and  speaking  from  the  standpoint  of  a 
brother  engineer,  nor  do  I  think  that  I  have  been  wrong  in  so  doing; 


436  ROSE  POLYTECHNIC  ADDRESS 

nevertheless  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  I  be  criticized  adversely  for 
this,  especially  if  my  address  appear  later  in  print. 

By  this  time  you  all  have  probably  come  to  the  conclusion  that  you 
have  been  listening  for  the  last  half  hour  or  more  to  an  old  fogy,  who 
thinks  that  there  is  nothing  in  life  worthy  of  consideration  but  work, 
work,  work,  and  who  can  talk  on  nothing  but  technical  subjects.  If 
this  be  so,  I  by  no  means  blame  you,  for  you  would  seem  to  have  reason 
on  your  side ;  nevertheless  you  would  be  entirely  in  the  wrong,  because  I 
am  a  firm  believer  in  legitimate  relaxation  of  every  kind  and  in  a  man's 
getting  all  the  pleasure  he  can  out  of  life.  Perhaps,  too,  I  could  talk 
of  things  that  are  far  from  technical,  such  as  hunting  the  great  game 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  canoeing  on  lake  and  stream,  the  shooting  of 
rapids,  travels  in  foreign  countries,  gunning  for  wild  fowl  in  the  marshes, 
sports  afield  with  dog  and  gun,  fly  fishing  for  trout  in  the  streams 
of  the  far  North,  and  struggling  with  the  gallant  tarpon  on  the  waters 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico; -but  it  was  not  to  discuss  such  subjects  as  these 
that  your  President  brought  me  here,  consequently  I  shall  desist,  only 
remarking  that  the  more  you  mix  these  things  and  other  sports  and 
amusements  in  with  your  work,  the  better  will  it  be  for  you  both  physi- 
cally and  mentally,  the  longer  will  you  live,  the  more  will  you  accom- 
plish, the  more  satisfactory  will  be  the  results  of  your  work,  the  better 
men  and  citizens  will  you  become,  and  the  more  interesting  and  agree- 
able will  you  prove  to  all  with  whom  you  are  thrown  in  contact. 

Certainly  mine  has  been  a  decidedly  rambling  discourse ;  but  I  hope 
you  will  pardon  this  feature  of  the  address  for  the  reason  that  "scattered 
shot  hits  most  birds,"  hence  perhaps  I  have  bagged  several  of  you  with 
some  of  my  pellets;  while,  had  I  used  a  choke  bore  by  adhering  stead- 
fastly to  one  subject,  I  might  have  missed  my  aim  altogether,  or  at  best 
succeeded  in  capturing  only  one  individual. 

In  conclusion  I  beg  to  say,  gentlemen,  that  it  has  given  me  sincere 
pleasure  to  meet  and  address  you ;  that  if  in  the  future  I  can  serve  you 
either  collectively  or  individually,  I  shall  be  at  your  command;  that  I 
hope  some  of  my  remarks  may  some  day  prove  of  benefit  to  you,  and  that 
I  wish  for  each  one  and  all  of  you  the  greatest  satisfaction  in  life— 
a  truly  successful,  professional  career. 


GRADUATE  STUDY  AND   RESEARCH. 

By 
Professor  Chas.  H.  Benjamin. 

In  the  seventh  paper  of  this  series  Mr.  John  Lyle  Harrington 
deals  at  length  with  the  question  of  the  "Necessity  for  Continuing  Study 
after  Graduation,"  and  shows  conclusively  that  the  graduate  engineer 
cannot  reach  any  eminence  in  the  profession  unless  he  continues  his  stud- 
ies after  the  completion  of  his  technical  course. 

The  present  paper  by  Prof.  Benjamin,  who  is  Dean  of  the  Engi- 
neering Faculty  at  Purdue  University,  supplements  most  forcibly  all  that 
Mr.  Harrington  has  said,  although  it  is  addressed  primarily  to  those 
specializing  in  engineering  education.  As  quite  a  large  percentage  of 
technical  graduates  spend  at  least  a  portion  of  their  professional  careers 
in  teaching,  the  reproduction  here  of  Dean  Benjamin's  valuable  paper 
ought  to  prove  well  worth  while. 

Editors. 


437 


GRADUATE  STUDY  AND  RESEARCH. 

By 
Professor  Chas.  H.  Benjamin. 

On  first  graduating  from  college,  the  young  man  is  sometimes  in- 
clined to  believe  that  his  education  is  finished  and  that  all  he  has  to  do 
is  to  realize  on  his  investment.  If  he  goes  into  practical  work  outside 
of  the  University,  he  is  soon  disabused  of  this  idea.  Contact  with  men 
and  things  in  the  outer  world  has  a  tendency  to  convince  him  that  his 
education  is  just  beginning.  If  he  can  but  succeed  in  establishing  a 
connection  between  his  college  training  and  the  requirements  of  his 
profession,  he  is  fortunate. 

The  best  technical  schools  can  only  give  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  science  and  engineering  with  but  a  brief  attempt  at  application. 
On  the  foundation  thus  provided,  the  graduate  must  build  his  own  super- 
structure and  must  adapt  his  style  of  architecture  to  his  environments. 
If  he  has  been  educated  and  not  "filled  up"  or  as  one  writer  puts  it, 
if  he  has  been  a  "sponge  and  not  a  bucket,"  the  building  will  be  easy. 

For  the  graduate  who  leaves  professional  life  and  becomes  a  teach- 
er, the  incentives  to  study  and  investigation  are  not  so  immediate.  He 
is  teaching  the  same  things  that  were  taught  him  and  in  about  the  same 
way.  There  are  no  outside  pressure  and  competition  to  stir  him  and  to 
spur  him.  The  university  wall  and  the  college  atmosphere  deaden 
the  sounds  of  traffic  and  bustle  from  without  and  leave  him  in  a  world 
of  his  own.  Under  such  circumstances  there  is  danger  of  stunted 
growth  and  dry  rot. 

In  the  live,  progressive  sciences  of  to-day,  there  is  no  such  word  as 
rest.  The  information  acquired  in  college,  like  the  United  States  Con- 
stitution, must  be  a  rudder,  not  an  anchor.  The  close  contact  between 
our  leading  technical  educators  and  the  affairs  of  the  outer  world  is  a 
sufficient  refutation  of  the  claim  that  the  instruction  given  in  our  col- 
leges is  academic  and  not  practical.  When  manufacturers,  farmers,  and 
business  men  in  general  come  to  the  professors  in  .the  universities  for 
the  solution  of  difficult  problems  in  their  several  lines  of  work,  no  argu- 
ment is  necessary  to  prove  the  practical  worth  of  college  trained  men. 
These  men  have  not  become  what  they  are  by  simply  floating  along  with 
the  current  and  just  keeping  their  heads  above  the  surface  of  their 

439 


440  GRADUATE   STUDY   AND    RESEARCH. 

every  day  work.  The  training  and  knowledge  which  command  the 
respect  of  the  practical  man  of  affairs  were  not  obtained  in  this  way, 
but  were  the  result  of  hard  work  and  continuous  application. 

Three  requirements  must  be  met  by  the  university  man  who  would 
have  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  compeers  outside: 

1.  He  must  have  a  broad  culture  to  enable  him  to  meet  men  on 
their  own  level. 

2.  He  must  have  a  good  store  of  information  on  all  subjects  in  the 
line  of  his  profession. 

3.  He  must  know  more  than  most  other  men  in  college  or  out  of 
it,  about  some  one  thing. 

As  John  Stuart  Mill  put  it,  (rather  strongly  perhaps),  "He  should 
know  something  of  everything  and  everything  of  something."  To  the 
overworked,  underpaid  instructor,  this  may  seem  too  remote  a  mirage 
to  be  worth  considering.  But  I  want  to  say  to  you  right  here  that  you 
must  make  this  your  goal ;  you  must  start  on  this  way,  for  it  is  the  way 
and  the  only  way  to  professional  salvation.  When  you  spend  from  six 
to  eight  hours  at  the  university  each  day  and  when  you  have  lessons 
to  prepare  and  papers  to  correct,  it  may  seem  that  you  have  no  time  for 
further  work  or  study.  Be  this  as  it  may,  your  only  chance  to  rise 
above  the  level  of  mediocrity  is  by  independent  study  and  research.  I 
would  not  urge  any  man  to  overstep  the  natural  boundaries  between 
bodily  health  and  ill  health.  Each  must  be  his  own  judge  of  his  physical 
limitations.  Often  a  judicious  admixture  of  physical  exercise  with  men- 
tal application  will  enable  one  to  accomplish  the  otherwise  impossible. 
Systematic  use  of  the  time  at  one's  disposal  for  work  and  for  play  will 
sometimes  bring  about  astonishing  results.  If  you  have  daily  an  hour 
or  two  hours  at  your  disposal,  it  is  remarkable  how  much  and  how  little 
may  be  done  in  this  time .  accordingly  as  you  use  it  systematically  or 
recklessly. 

There  comes  a  time  in  nearly  every  man's  life  when  he  finds  that 
he  can  not  keep  up  to  concert  pitch  all.  the  time, — that  he  must  let  the 
strings  down  a  part  of  the  day  and  relax  a  bit.  To  some  men  this  comes 
at  forty  years  of  age,  to  some  at  fifty,  and  to  some  apparently  not  at 
all.  The  really  hard  work  and  close  study  must  be  done  before  this 
time  and  it  is  up  to  the  younger  man  to  do  it.  Now,  what  is  there  to 
be  done  and  how  is  one  to  do  it?  If  you  are  interested  in  your  pro- 
fession, you  soon  find  something  in  your  work  which  attracts  you  and 
about  which  you  want  to  know  more.  If  you  do  not,  something  is 
wrong ;  you  may  have  mistaken  your  vocation ;  you  may  not  have  waked 


BENJAMIN.  441 

up  yet  to  its  possibilities ;  or  you  may  have  been  indifferent.  When 
you  find  this  thing  that  attracts  you,  study  it  in  your  spare  time;  go  to 
the  books  in  the  library,  to  the  files  of  periodicals  and  find  what  others 
have  done.  See  if  something  has  not  been  left  undone  that  you  can 
do,  see  if  there  is  not  some  new  avenue  of  approach  as  yet  untrodden. 
Frequently  men  think  and  write  about  a  subject  for  a  long  time  and 
formulate  new  and  ingenious  theories  without  actually  putting  their 
formulas  to  the  test. 


Most  things  are  as  yet  undiscovered;  and  we  are  just  chipping  at 
the  shell  of  the  egg.  It  may  be  for  you  to  make  a  discovery  which  shall 
revolutionize  theory  and  practice  in  some  department  of  knowledge. 

Have  a  card  index  of  your  own  where  you  may  jot  down  in  order 
references  to  articles  in  the  scientific  periodicals  which  interest  you. 
No  printed  index  will  take  the  place  of  this;  such  are  too  voluminous; 
and,  besides,  the  title  of  an  article  often  gives  no  clue  to  the  paragraph 
or  the  illustration  which  you  want. 

Make  it  a  point  to  visit  the  library  once  a  week  and  skim  the  per- 
iodicals which  appeal  to  you.  Read  an  article  when  you  can,  but  do  not 
fail  to  sift  them  all  and  index  what  you  may  use  at  some  future  time. 
You  must  keep  abreast  of  the  rapidly  advancing  tide  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion in  your  line  or  you  will  soon  become  a  mollusk  in  the  sands  of 
yesterday. 

Get  in  touch  with  your  fellows  in  the  campaign  of  investigation. 
Join  one  or  two  societies,  attend  a  meeting  now  and  then,  and  become 
personally  acquainted  with  the  men  who  are  moulding  opinion  in  scien- 
tific lines.  When  you  have  done  something  which  is  worth  while,  write 
a  paper  and  present  it  at  a  meeting  of  your  society.  Be  modest  in  your 
statements,  sure  of  your  facts,  and  firm  in  your  opinions. 

Theories  are  like  weeds — they  grow  best  where  there  is  no  other 
crop.  Facts,  as  determined  by  experiments,  are  more  rare  and  command 
a  good  price  even  among  experts. 

One  who  confines  himself  entirely  to  the  narrow  path  leading  from 
his  boarding  place  to  his  class  room  becomes  in  time  just  an  eating  and 
teaching  machine.  Such  narrowness  of  application  defeats  its  own  ob- 
ject: the  teacher  who  knows  only  what  is  between  the  covers  of  the 
text-book  is  an  unsafe  guide. 

Character  and  reputation  are  the  principal  assets  of  the  teacher, 
and  the  latter  is  the  only  one  on  which  he  can  realize. 

It  is  by  graduate  study  and  research  and  by  the  presentation  of  the 
results  before  scientific  societies  that  the  younger  man  becomes  known 


442  GRADUATE   STUDY   AND   RESEARCH. 

to  the  world.  You  may  call  this  advertising,  and  so  it  is;  but  there  is 
nothing  disgraceful  about  advertising  when  you  really  have  the  goods. 
If  a  man  has  a  horse  to  sell,  he  must  go  to  market  or  advertise. 

I  have  not  said  anything  about  private  libraries  and  I  hesitate  to  do 
so.  A  good  library  is  more  to  be  desired  than  great  riches;  unfor- 
tunately, unless  you  have  the  latter,  you  may  not  possess  the  former. 
I  should  advise  the  younger  man  to  go  slow  in  the  purchase  of  books, 
especially  if  he  have  access  to  a  good  reference  library.  Scientific  books 
come  high,  and  in  many  cases  you  have  to  pay  for  a  lot  of  padding. 
When  a  writer  collects  a  number  of  moss-grown  formulas,  stirs  them 
up  with  an  assortment  of  cuts  and  descriptive  matter  scissored  from 
recent  catalogs,  and  sells  the  result  at  $6.00  per,  it  is  time  for  the  buyer 
to  stop  and  reflect.  Buy  only  the  books  which  you  feel  you  must  own ; 
and  when  in  doubt,  recommend  them  to  the  University  librarian. 


THE  NEED  OF  GRADUATE  COURSES  IN  ENGINEERING. 

By 
Hon.  Willard  A.  Smith. 

This  address  was  delivered  in  February,  1908,  at  the  installation 
of  Dr.  W.  F.  M.  Goss  as  Dean  of  the  College  of  Engineering  of  the 
University  of  Illinois.  It  is  teeming  with  great  thoughts  and  words  of 
wisdom ;  and  it  cannot  fail  to  meet  the  hearty  approval  and  endorse- 
ment of  all  thinking  men  who  read  it.  Although  its  author  has  prob- 
ably never  seen  the  following  address  on  "Higher  Education  for  Civil 
Engineers",  this  discourse  endorses  the  stand  taken  by  the  writer  of 
that  paper  in  making  his  plea  for  more  extended  technical  education 
for  the  chosen  few  who  "are  to  advance  the  engineering  profession  by 
their  scientific  and  technical  researches. 

Editors. 


443 


THE  NEED  OF  GRADUATE  COURSES  IN  ENGINEERING. 

By 
Hon.  Willard  A.  Smith. 

The  world  is  constantly  bidding  higher  for  men  of  great  ability 
and  thorough  training.  Especially  is  this  true  of  our  own  country  and 
of  the  combination  of  the  engineer  and  the  man  of  affairs.  Our  enor- 
mous undeveloped  natural  resources,  the  wasteful  methods  which  have 
prevailed,  and  the  vastly  increased  returns  from  industry  due  to  new 
methods  and  to  more  thorough  organization,  all  tend  to  make  the  best 
ability  the  cheapest.  The  highest  price  has  always  actually  been  placed 
upon  the  man  of  business  ability,  the  capable  man,  the  man  of  tact, 
of  initiative,  and  hence  of  mastery.  This  ability,  which  can  hardly  be 
described  by  a  single  word,  is  undoubtedly  inborn;  there  are  those  who 
never  can  possess  it.  Sometimes  it  is  early  in  life,  sometimes  late,  that 
this  sort  of  man  finds  himself.  We  are  pointed  to  these  successful  men 
as  evidence  that  higher  education  and  especially  technical  training  are 
unnecessary;  but  it  is  seldom  that  one  of  them  is  found  who  does  not 
concede  that  such  education  would  have  been  of  great  value  to  him. 
Certainly  the  man  most  in  demand  to-day  is  the  one  who  combines 
thorough  training  with  natural  executive  or  administrative  ability. 

Engineering  has  had  many  definitions,  most  of  which  qualify  and 
enlarge  rather  than  actually  define.  In  a  very  real  sense  we  may  speak 
of  it  as  the  science  of  economy,  of  conserving  the  energy,  kinetic  and 
potential,  provided  and  stored  up  by  nature  for  the  use  of  man.  It  is 
the  business  of  engineering  to  utilize  this  energy  to  the  best  advantage, 
so  that  there  may  be  the  least  possible  waste.  Nature  has  stored  up 
combustibles  in  the  shape  of  coal,  oil,  and  wood,  the  force  of  gravity 
in  running  or  elevated  water,  the  force  of  the  wind,  solar  radiation,  tidal 
power,  and  animal  or  muscular  energy.  These  are  the  materials  of  en- 
gineering, to  utilize  which  to  the  best  advantage  calls  for  the  best 
preparation  possible  for  the  engineer  to  attain.  With  the  lavishness  of 
newness,  little  reckoning  our  rate  of  development  and  its  terrible  destruc- 
tiveness,  we  have  gone  on  in  this  country  along  the  lines  of  least  re- 
sistance, until  the  end  of  some  of  these  resources  is  almost  in  sight.  The 
President  has  called  a  conference  of  the  governors  of  the  states  to  con- 
sider what  can  be  done  towards  conserving  the  coal  deposits,  the  forests, 
and  the  water  supply,  all  of  which  are  disappearing  with  startling  rap- 

445 


446  GRADUATE.  COURSES  IN  ENGINEERING. 

idity.  The  common  weal  calls  for  engineers  prepared  to  meet  the 
situation,  for  men  who  shall  know  how  to  make  every  possible  unit  of 
energy  useful  by  improved  machinery  and  methods,  who  can  substitute 
other  sources  of  energy  for  those  that  are  vanishing,  and  who  can  plan 
and  organize  a  general  policy  looking  to  the  largest  immediate  returns 
without  sacrificing  the  future  of  the  race. 

Our  country  calls  for  such  men  and  they  are  needed  in  the  councils 
of  the  nation.  The  business  man  has  broken  into  the  preserves  of  the 
lawyer  in  legislative  halls  and  administrative  offices.  Why  should  not 
the  "live-wire"  engineer  be  there  also?  Why  should  he  not  be  a  maker 
of  policies,  instead  of  a  mere  technician,  retained  to  work  disadvantage- 
ously  under  the  direction  of  the  incompetent?  We  sadly  need  in  pub- 
lic affairs  some  of  these  qualities  which  he  must  possess  and  cultivate. 
The  engineer  must  be  an  accurate  man;  he  must  know  his  data  and  his 
formulae,  and  his  calculations  must  be  exact.  He  is  needed  in  politics 
to  .combat  its  dishonesty  and  slouchiness  of  thought  and  method.  The 
engineer  must  be  honest  with  himself,  a  kind  of  honesty  all  too  rare. 
These  qualities  fit  him  rarely  for  the  consideration  of  problems  of  na- 
tional import  which  are  not  usually  considered  as  engineering.  The 
engineer's  habits  of  thought,  carried  into  political  economy,  may  make 
of  it  a  higher  grade  of  engineering.  Albert  Fink,  the  great  civil  en- 
gineer, spent  his  maturest  years  in  organizing  and  directing  the  railway 
traffic  associations  of  the  country,  eliminating  waste  and  dishonesty,  and 
endeavoring  so  to  unify  the  great  volume  of  transportation  that  it  might 
give  the  public  the  best  service  at  the  lowest  cost,  and  yet  permit  rail- 
ways to  make  such  earnings  as  to  insure  further  development.  In  this 
work,  he  often  told  me,  he  was  still  the-  engineer.  He  had  graduated 
from  one  life  class  to  another,  finally  reaching,  as  he  deemed  it,  the 
highest  field  of  engineering. 

Such  an  engineer  will  not  be  content  with  simply  estimating  the 
constructive  possibilities  of  any  proposed  physical  development.  He 
will  examine  into  the  actual  necessities  for  it  and  the  probabilities  of 
adequate  return,  considering  that  the  public  money  should  not  be  sunk 
merely  for  the  benefit  of  speculators  and  contractors  or  to  promote  the 
fad  of  a  class  of  engineers.  For  instance,  there  is  now  before  the 
country  a  proposition  for  the  investment  of  enormous  sums  in  the  im- 
provement of  waterways.  These  are  advocated  by  three  classes,  men 
having  an  itch  for  figuring  in  the  public  eye,  politicians  seeking  an  issue 
to  justify  their  existence,  and  engineers  interested  in  the  technical"  fea- 
tures of  the  proposed  work.  So  far  as  I  can  see,  there  has  been  no 
careful  investigation  of  the  traffic  which  can  possibly  be  developed ;  and 
in  most  cases  it  is  not  only  now  an  unknown  quality,  but  the  conditions 


SMITH.  447 

for  future  development  are  utterly  lacking.  Ought  not  the  ideal  engineer 
to  be  an  economist,  who  shall  dare  to  say  when  engineering  development 
ought  not  to  be  undertaken  as  well  as  when  it  ought? 

Among  modern  conditions  which  are  changing  the  aspects  of  life 
and  calling  for  higher  engineering,  I  may  mention  the  increasing  con- 
gestion of  people  and  traffic  in  large  cities.  All  of  the  efforts  to  pro- 
vide adequately  for  this,  by  building  on  the  surface,  overhead,  and  un- 
derground, have  failed  to  keep  up  with  the  increasing  congestion.  The 
problems  of  transportation,  and  indeed  of  life,  in  the  great  centers  of 
population  offer  an  ever-opening  and  expanding  field.  Higher  engineer- 
ing will  some  time  bend  its  energies  to  plans  for  dispersing  the  activities 
of  cities,  rather  than  to  devising  means  for  increasing  the  problem. 

How  shall  we  get  the  men  to  handle  such  problems?  If  the  ma- 
terial is  right,  are  they  adequately  started  in  life  by  the  ordinary  under- 
graduate course  in  engineering?  In  the  elementary  and  secondary 
schools  their  effort  has  been  dissipated  and  attention  distracted  by  too 
many  subjects  and  an  entirely  superficial  teaching.  They  come  with  no 
habit  of  accuracy  of  thought  or  adequate  comprehension  of  its  import- 
ance. It  is  well  if  this  can  be  instilled  into  them  in  the  four  years  of 
undergraduate  class-work;  and  if  at  the  end  of  this  course  they  are  be- 
ginning to  know  themselves.  This,  for  most,  will  end  the  student  prep- 
aration. The  genuine  engineer,  like  the  genuine  man  in  any  walk  of 
life,  will  be  preparing  all  his  life.  Each  achievement  he  will  value 
not  merely  for  the  wealth  or  glory  it  brings  him,  but  as  a  preparation 
for  something  beyond.  He  who  has  got  through  all  preparatory  work  is 
dead.  I  am  convinced  that  the  best  results  from  a  graduate  course 
would  come  if  a  few  years  of  practical  experience  intervened  after 
graduation.  That,  however,  will  be  subject  to  individual  conditions,  and 
will  not  influence  the  course  itself.  It  is  only  in  the  graduate  course 
that  the  true  university  methods,  which  have  proved  their  value  for 
men,  can  be  employed.  I  take  it  for  granted,  also,  that  the  graduate 
course  will  involve  a  correlation  of  such  subjects  as  political  economy 
and  administration ;  so  that  it  will  start  the  student  fairly  on  the  road  to 
that  higher  engineering  career  which  I  have  endeavored  to  outline.  A 
career  is  for  "those  who  prove  leaders,  who  occupy,  sooner  or  later, 
positions  of  responsibility,  develop  their  own  methods,  and  may  claim 
credit  for  the  results  achieved."  It  is  something  above  the  mere  busi- 
ness or  professional  life. 

In  the  graduate  school  it  is  possible  to  make  a  study  of  each  in- 
dividual student.  Dr.  Harper  said,  "Every  student  should  be  treated 
as  though  he  were  the  only  student  in  the  institution."  There  also 
the  faculty,  relieved  from  much  of  the  drudgery  of  instruction,  may 


448  GRADUATE  COURSES  IN  ENGINEERING. 

carry  on  that  equally  important,  nay,  most  important,  university  work, 
research  and  investigation,  a  work  of  unlimited  public  value  of  itself, 
and  affording  an  inspiration,  otherwise  unobtainable,  to  the  entire  school. 
The  modern  university  is  properly  gauged  as  much  by  the  studies  and 
productions  of  its  head  professors  as  by  the  men  it  turns  out  from  the 
graduate  courses. 

We  have  not  yet  as  a  nation  arrived  at  any  plan  which  insures  that 
the  country's  affairs  shall  be  conducted  by  the  fittest  men.  Toward  that 
goal  we  trust  we  are  tending  slowly,  but  amid  constant  discouragement. 
One  constant  forward  movement  is  in  the  university  work  of  supply- 
ing men  who  are  fitted  to  be  leaders.  Engineering  education  has  been 
almost  the  latest  to  enter  the  university  field  and  take  its  place  along- 
side the  older  schools.  It  has  justified  its  assumption  of  an  equal  rank 
by  what  it  has  done  so  far.  This  higher  step,  taken  in  due  time,  is  re- 
quired if  it  is  to  maintain  its  dignity  and  enter  the  open  door  which  has 
been  set  before  it. 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

By 
Dr.  J.   A.    L.   Waddell. 

This  address  was  delivered  in  April,  1904,  to  the  Engineering 
Society  of  the  University  of  Nebraska.  While  it  was  written  specially 
for  presentation  to  engineering  students,  the  subject  is  one  that  ap- 
parently is  better  fitted  for  an  address  to  engineering  instructors ;  never- 
theless its  author  made  no  mistake  in  preparing  it;  for  quite  lately 
Prof.  Geo.  H.  Morse  of  that  University  stated  in  print  that  "To  Dr. 
Waddell's  lecture,  delivered  before  the  Engineering  Society  of  the 
University  of  Nebraska,  on  'Higher  Education  for  Civil  Engineers' 
may  be  traced  the  inception  of  the  six  year  engineering  course  in  this 
University." 

That  the  author's  idea  of  a  great  post-graduate  school  for  engi- 
neers was  not  in  the  nature  of  a  pipe-dream  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
within  a  short  time  there  has  been  established  at  Harvard  University 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Geo.  F.  Swain,  a  post-graduate  school  of 
engineering. 

Editors. 


449 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

:•: /•     -,.  :\...:  -By.;.-;  311 

Dr.   J.   A.    L.   Waddell. 

YOUNG  GENTLEMEN: 

The  subject  of  my  remarks  to-night  is  "Higher  Education  for  Civil 
Engineers/'  Perhaps  it  is  not  the  most  suitable  topic  possible  for  an  ad- 
dress to  an  assemblage  of  undergraduates,  being  more  appropriate  for  a 
meeting  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education; 
nevertheless,  I  trust  that  it  will  interest  you,  for  it  treats  of  a  matter  of 
vital  importance  to  the  engineering  profession,  of  which  you  are  soon  to 
become  members. 

It  has  been  my  good  fortune  and  my  pleasure  often  during  the  last 
twenty  years  to  meet  and  lecture  to  the  undergraduates  of  engineering 
schools ;  and  on  such  occasions  when  the  address  was  of  a  formal  nature 
I  usually  confined  my  remarks  to  advice  concerning  young  men's  work 
both  at  the  technical  school  and  during  the  early  years -of  practice.  My 
reason  for  departing  from  this  custom  to-night  is  that  I  have  about  ex- 
hausted that  subject,  and  do  not  desire  to  repeat  myself. 

********** 

In  connection  with  my  subject  the  first  question  that  is  likely  to 
enter  your  minds  is  whether  any  education  higher  than  that  now  given 
to  civil  engineering  students  in  the  leading  technical  schools  is  really 
necessary  or  advisable.  To  this  I  answer  "Yes — most  decidedly  yes." 
Perhaps  a  few  of  the  engineering  educators  will  disagree  with  me;  but 
I  know  that  some  of  the  leading  ones  do  not. 

On  this  question  I  ought  to  be  an  authority;  for  not  only  does  my 
firm  employ  constantly  new  graduates  of  technical  schools  from  all  over 
the  United  States  as  well  as  from  Canada  and  Japan,  but  during  my 
travels,  which  average  in  amount  about  fifty  thousand  miles  per  annum, 
I  meet  a  great  number  of  engineers  with  whom  I  discuss  such  matters 
as  technical  education.  Nearly  all  of  them  have  complaints  to  make  con- 
cerning the  deficiencies  in  the  training  of  the  recent  graduates  of  tech- 
nical schools. 

By  this  they  do  not  mean  to  convey  the  idea  that  engineering  educa- 
tion has  been  deteriorating.  Far  from  it !  For  the-  old  engineers  all 
recognize  that  since  their  college  days  great  improvements  therein  have 

451 


452  HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

been  effected,  especially  during  the  ten  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the 
inauguration  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Educa- 
tion, to  which  most  of  this  advancement  is  due. 

But,  great  as  may  have  been  the  strides  in  engineering  education,  the 
advance  of  the  science  and  art  of  engineering  has  been  far  greater ;  and 
this  divergence  of  progress  is  steadily  increasing.  The  mass  of  technical 
literature  which  is  of  value  to  engineering  students  is  now  immense,  and 
is  constantly  augmenting ;  while  in  my  student  days  it  was  difficult  to  find 
enough  good  technical  works  to  furnish  us  with  proper  text  books  for 
our  course.  Because  of  this  accumulation  of  valuable  engineering  liter- 
ature it  is  practicable  to-day  to  give  far  better  technical  courses  than 
were  possible  formerly;  but  the  possibilities  of  improvement  are  by  no 
means  limited  to  results  obtainable  from  the  increased  and  improved 
engineering  literature,  as  the  latter  is  always  of  necessity  far  behind 
engineering  practice. 

While  it  would,  no  doubt,  be  impracticable  to  give  engineering 
courses  so  closely  in  touch  with  current  practice  that  they  would  make 
the  students  perfectly  familiar  with  all  of  the  latest  developments  in  en- 
gineering, still  it  is  possible  for  the  faculty  of  a  technical  school  to 
approximate  to  this  desideratum  by  launching  out  ahead  of  the  techni- 
cal literature  and  -securing  for  their  students  the  latest  information 
directly  from  practicing  engineers.  This  procedure  is  certainly  the 
most  effective  one  possible  for  advancing  the  interests  of  engineering 
education. 

It  may  be  claimed  that  those  engineers  who  complain  of  the  insuf- 
ficient training  of  recent  graduates  are  merely  cranks  who  are  asking 
for  the  impossible,  and  that  they  would  not  be  satisfied  with  any  at- 
tainable training;  but  this  is  not  true.  Those  of  them  whom  I  have  in 
mind  just  now  certainly  stand  at  or  near  the  head  of  the  profession,  and 
are  reasonable,  practical  men.  Complaints  of  this  kind  are  not  made 
ill-naturedly;  but  merely  to  state  existing  conditions  that  require  better- 
ment. Moreover  they  are  a  good  thing  for  our  profession ;  because  if 
there  were  no  tendency  for  the  practicing  engineers  to  make  such  com- 
plaints, it  would  indicate  that  perfection  has  been  reached  in  the  tech- 
nical schools,  which  is  certainly  not  the  case. 

Having  spent  six  years  of  my  life  in  teaching  civil  engineering,  I 
naturally  take  an  intense  interest  in  everything  relating  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  pedagogical  branch  of  our  profession ;  and  I  make  a  point  of 
meeting  the  professors  of  civil  engineering  whenever  I  can  during  my 
travels.  In  conversation  with  these  gentlemen  I  often  suggest  im- 
provements and  reforms  in  technical  education;  and  they  nearly  al- 
ways agree  that  my  suggestions  are  good  but  state  that  there  is  not 


W ADD  ELL.  453 

sufficient  time  available  for  their  adoption.  That  this  is  generally  true 
I  know  only  too  well.  Seventeen  years  ago  in  an  exhaustive  paper  on 
Civil  Engineering  Education  I  advocated  the  adoption  of  five-year 
courses  in  civil  engineering,  and  I  have  been  harping  upon  that  idea  ever 
since.  The  time  is  surely  coming  when  all  first-class  courses  in  civil 
engineering  will  occupy  five  years;  and  the  day  for  inaugurating  this 
change  is  not  far  distant.  Its  approach  is  heralded  by  the  post-graduate 
courses  that  are  becoming  so  common  in  technical  schools ;  and  the  next 
advance  will  be  to  make  these  courses  obligatory  instead  of  optional. 

Probably  the  first  institution  to  inaugurate  this  change  will  be 
McGill  University;  for,  unless  I  am  decidedly  mistaken,  the  faculty  of  that 
school  is  bending  its  energies  toward  the  accomplishment  of  this  pur- 
pose. It  will  then  seem  odd  to  see  Canada  leading  the  United  States 
in  such  an  important  matter  as  engineering  education.  In  truth,  I  am 
almost  convinced  that  such  is  the  case  to-day;  for  the  engineering 
course  at  McGill  has  for  some  time  been  rapidly  and  steadily  improving. 
This  much  I  can  vouch  for — the  course  in  bridges  is  far  in  advance  of 
any  similar  course  given  in  the  United  States,  or  for  that  matter  any- 
where else  in  the  world. 

One  objection  raised  to  increasing  the  length  of  engineering  courses 
to  five  years  is  that  such  action  would  work  a  hardship  on  many  worthy 
young  men  of  scant  means  and  would  render  it  impracticable  for  them 
to  secure  a  technical  education.  Such  a  plea  is  a  fallacy ;  for  young  men 
would  still  find  some  school  where  four-year  courses  are  given ;  as  to-day 
there  are  institutions  where  engineering  is  taught  in  three  years.  Again, 
if  an  impecunious  young  man  can  raise  the  money  required  for  taking 
a  four-year  course,  by  a  little  extra  effort  he  can  probably  raise  enough 
for  a  five-year  course.  Moreover,  it  is  constantly  becoming  easier  for 
poor  but  worthy  young  men  to  secure  financial  aid  in  obtaining  educa- 
tion. 

Here  let  me  digress  a  moment  to  make  the  statement  that  there  is 
no  better  way  for  a  financially  successful  man  to  aid  mankind  than  by 
helping  ambitious  young  men  to  secure  thorough,  practical  education. 
Nor  need  such  aid  be  given  in  the  form  of  charity;  for  if  the  young 
man  be  honest  as  well  as  capable  and  energetic,  the  money  can  be  lent 
instead  of  given  him ;  and  for  several  reasons  the  former  method  is  de- 
cidedly better,  principally  because  it  does  not  injure  the  recipient's 
self-respect.  By  accepting  notes  at  the  current  rate  of  interest  for  all 
moneys  advanced  and  securing  the  loan  by  life  insurance,  the  possi- 
bility of  loss  to  the  lender  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  I  have  seen  this 
method  tried  with  fortunate  results ;  and  I  recommend  it  to  those  suc- 
cessful men  who  desire  to  help  others  by  the  use  of  some  of  their  ac- 


454  HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

cumulated  wealth.  The  satisfaction  that  they  will  experience  in  the 
success  of  their  proteges  will  transcend  that  from  any  other  invest- 
ment. 

Among  the  most  important  deficiences  noted  by  practicing  engineers 
in  the  recent  technical-school  graduate  are  inability  to  express  himself 
correctly  and  forcibly  in  either  writing  or  speaking,  lack  of  all  ideas  of 
system,  inaccuracy  in  computations,  ignorance  of  money  values  and  eco- 
nomics, slovenliness  in  drafting,  ignorance  of  what  a  drawing  should  con- 
tain to  make  it  complete  and  serviceable,  failure  to  understand  the  prac- 
tical application  of  what  he  has  studied  in  his  technical  course,  and  un- 
acquaintance  with  numerous  little  practical  things  that  he  ought  to  have 
learned. 

In  commenting  upon  the  current  practice  of  instructing  engineering 
students  and  its  results,  I  desire  you  to  understand  clearly  that  my  re- 
marks are  absolutely  of  a  general  nature,  and  refer  in  particular  to  no 
one  institution  of  learning.  And  I  especially  want  you  to  bear  in  mind 
that  I  have  no  intention  of  criticising  the  work  of  your  professors.  Of 
this  you  will  probably  hold  me  guiltless,  when  I  confess  to  you  that, 
much  to  my  regret,  I  have  never  had  an  opportunity  to  learn  anything 
concerning  the  character  of  the  work  done  at  the  Nebraska  State  Uni- 
versity. 

That  the  study  of  the  English  language  is  sadly  neglected  in  our 
technical  schools  nobody  is  likely  to  deny ;  for  the  English  spoken  by  the 
majority  of  their  graduates  is  atrocious;  their  letters  are  awkward,  mis- 
spelled, and  ungrammatical ;  an.d  their  ability  to  write  reports,  specifica- 
tions, and  contracts  is  practically  nil. 

Why  should  such  a  sad  state  of  affairs  as  this  exist,  and  with  whom 
lies  the  blame?  These  questions  are  not  difficult* to  answer. 

The  boys  that  enter  technical  schools  are  generally  not  well  prepar- 
ed, and  the  study  in  which  they  are  invariably  weakest  is  the  English 
language.  Most  of  them  from  early  association  speak  ungrammatically, 
and  but  few  of  them  have  had  proper  training  in  spelling,  grammar,  and 
composition.  Even  the  special  preparatory  schools  fail  to  provide  proper 
training  in  these  essential  studies;  and  the  waiving  of  entrance  exam- 
inations to  technical  institutions  for  graduates  of  such  preparatory 
schools  augments  the  trouble.  Most  technical  schools  give,  or  pre- 
tend to  give,  more  or  less  instruction  in  English ;  but  the  courses  are 
usually  confined  to  the  Freshman  year,  and  are  looked  upon  by  the  stu- 
dents as  of  minor  importance.  The  result  is  that  they  are  neglected, 
and  the  boys  make  a  point'  of  studying  for  them  only  enough  to  pass ; 
consequently,  when  it  comes  to  writing  anything  original  they  fail  to 
do  themselves  credit. 


WADDELL.  455 

The  study  of  English  should  be  continued  throughout  the  entire 
technical  course,  and  should  be  carried  even  into  the  graduating  thesis, 
making  its  proper  wording  and  grammatical  construction  essential  for 
graduation.  Too  much  stress  cannot  well  be  laid  on  the  importance  of 
a  thorough  study  of  the  English  language.  Given  two  classmate  grad- 
uates of  equal  ability,  energy,  and  other  attributes  contributory  to  a 
successful  career,  one  of  them  being  in  every  respect  a  master  of  the 
English  language  and  the  other  having  the  average  proficiency  in  it, 
the  former  is  certain  to  outstrip  the  latter  materially  in  the  race  for 
professional  advancement. 

Upon  whom  then  lies  the  blame  for  this  undesirable  state  of  affairs? 
Primarily,  it  is  upon  the  faculty  for  not  insisting  that  the  subject  of  Eng- 
lish be  given  as  much  consideration  as  any  other  subject  in  the  entire 
course;  and,  secondarily,  upon  the  students  for  their  flagrant  neglect  of 
this  vitally  important  study. 

Is  it  not  generally  acknowledged  by  all  members  of  the  profession, 
young  and  old,  experienced  and  inexperienced  alike,  that  the  most  emi- 
nent engineers  are  not  those  who  have  merely  constructed  large  and  im- 
portant works,  but  those  who  in  addition  Tiave  by  their  writings  record- 
ed the  results  of  their  efforts  and  thus  instructed  others  concerning  how 
to  undertake  similar  constructions?  Such  being  the  case,  is  it  not  evi- 
dent that  a  complete  and  thorough  mastery  of  one's  native  language  is 
essential  to  the  highest  professional  success? 

Ponder  seriously  upon  this  matter,  my  young  friends,  and  see 
whether  you  do  not  agree  with  me  concerning  the  importance  to  each  of 
you  of  a  thorough  and  fundamental  knowledge  of  your  mother  tongue  ; 
and  if  you  do,  take  without  delay  the  necessary  steps  to  secure  such 
knowledge. 

Both  the  teaching  and  the  learning  of  systemization  at  school  are 
certainly  extremely  difficult;  nevertheless,  a  certain  proficiency  therein 
may  be  attained  by  the  students,  if  the  professor  will  lecture  to  them  on 
the  subject;  but  each  student  should  endeavor  to  perfect  himself  by 
.spending  a  portion  of  one  summer  vacation  in  the  office  of  some  engi- 
neer, contractor,  or  company  that  is  noted  for  the  effective  systemiza- 
tion of  its  works  and  records.  When  there,  not  only  should  he  master 
the  subject  in  all  its  details,  but  also  he  should  make  full  notes  upon  it 
for  future  reference. 

Accuracy  and  neatness  in  computation  can  be  attained  in  the  tech- 
nical school  if  the  professors  are  themselves  accurate  and  neat  in  their 
work,  and  if  they  will  invariably  insist  on  their  students  being  so.  Most 
young  men  think  that  if  they  understand  the  method  of  solving  a  prob- 
lem that  is  sufficient,  even  if  the  result  be  incorrect,  and  that  it  is  a 


456  HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

waste  of  time  to  check  and  correct  calculations.  No  greater  mistake 
could  be  made.  No  engineer  can  be  truly  successful  who  does  not  have 
all  the  work  for  which  he  is  responsible  checked  and  counter-checked, 
preferably  by  independent  computers ;  and  the  man  who  fails  at  college 
to  gather  up  all  the  loose  ends  and  to  make  sure  that  no  errors  exist  in 
his  computations  is  not  at  all  likely  to  develop  into  a  careful  and  ac- 
curate practicing  engineer. 

Some  students  think  that  at  school  there  is  no  necessity  for  deal- 
ing with  dollars  and  cents,  leaving  such  material  things  for  their  sub- 
sequent practice ;  and  too  often  the  professors  either  tacitly  agree  with 
them  in  this  notion  or  else  fail  to  correct  the  error. 

Never  probably  since  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs,  when  with  slave 
labor  those  rulers  built  the  great  pyramids,  has  it  been  possible  to  di- 
vorce engineering  from  pecuniary  consideration ;  and  nowadays  engin- 
eering, economics,  and  financiering  are  so  closely  allied  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  separate  them  on  work  of  any  magnitude.  Consequently,  the 
much  despised  but  almighty  dollar  should  make  itself  conspicuous 
throughout  every  practical  course  in  an  engineering  curriculum.  Stu- 
dents should  be  forced  to  prepare  with  each  of  their  designs  a  com- 
plete and  minutely  detailed  estimate  of  cost,  and  should  be  made  to 
understand  that  this  is  one  of  the  essential  features  of  the  course  of 
instruction. 

A  study  of  the  principles  of  economics  in  all  departments  of  de- 
signing is  essential  to  every  first-class  co'urse  in  civil  engineering;  and 
the  students  should  be  made  to  comprehend  that  the  most  successful 
engineer  is  he  who  can  accomplish  a  certain  result  in  a  perfectly  sat- 
isfactory manner  with  the  least  expenditure  of  money.  Care  should  be 
taken  to  distinguish  between  true  and  false  economy,  and  to  instill  into 
the  students'  minds  the  principle  that  the  most  economic  construction 
is  not  that  which  at  first  costs  least;  but  that  which  will  do  its  work 
for  an  indefinitely  long  time,  and  in  which  the  first  cost  plus  the  cap- 
italized cost  of  maintenance  and  repairs  is  a  minimum;  also  that  it  is 
better  engineering  to  build  a  cheap,  temporary,  yet  perfectly  safe  struc- 
ture with  the  intention  of  replacing  it  later  by  a  permanent  one,  than 
to  construct  a  weak  or  scamped  structure  that  has  a  false  appearance 
of  permanency. 

The  character  of  the  drafting  done  by  the  average  graduates  of 
technical  schools  is  decidedly  below  par;  and  there  is  no  good  excuse 
for  this,  because  with  very  few  exceptions,  students  can  be  so  taught 
the  mechanical  part  of  drafting  that  their  efforts  would  pass  muster  in 
the  offices  of  civil  engineers  and  contracting  companies.  The  ability 
to  make  neat  drawings  immediately  after  leaving  school  may  mean  many 


WADDELL.  457 

dollars  in  the  pocket  of  the  young  engineer,  which  otherwise  would  not 
find  their  way  there;  and  in  truth  it  may  often  prove  the  cause  of  his 
being  retained  in  a  competition  for  a  position  with  otherwise  better 
equipped  men.  Fancy  work  is  neither  called  for  nor  desired ;  but  neat, 
plain  work,  especially  free-hand,  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 

Very  few  young  engineers,  and,  truth  to  tell,  not  all  old  ones,  ap- 
preciate how  complete  every  drawing  should  be  made  and  what  written 
notes  it  should  contain.  In  our  office  we  aim  not  only  to  indicate  on 
all  drawings  every  measurement  necessary  for  construction,  but  also  to 
write  on  them  all  special  instructions  for  the  contractors  and  generally 
a  condensed  specification.  Such  drawings  prevent  the  contractors  from 
being  able  to  excuse  themselves  for  an  error  by  saying  "We  did  not  have 
the  specifications  at  hand  when  we  were  doing  the  work,"  or  "The 
specifications  are  so  voluminous  that  the  clause  pertaining  to  this 
special  point  escaped  our  notice." 

One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  under  which  many  engineering  stu- 
dents labor  is  their  failure  to  see  the  practical  application  of  theory  to 
actual  engineering.  The  blame  for  this  generally  lies  with  the  pro- 
fessors, who  either  are  themselves  ignorant  of  such  practical  application, 
or  neglect  to  call  the  attention  of  their  students  to  it.  The  remedy  for 
the  evil  is  to  insist  on  the  professors  of  technical  schools  being  prac- 
tical engineers  as  well  as  good  teachers. 

There  are  numerous  little  practical  ideas,  time  and  labor  saving  de- 
vices, and  short  cuts  to  results  which  a  practical  and  experienced  en- 
gineering professor  can  present  to  his  students,  and  which  will  tend 
greatly  to  the  amelioration  of  the  characteristic  greenness  of  the  recent 
graduate  when  entering  upon  his  professional  career. 

In  addition  to  the  subjects  covered  in  the  usual  curriculum  of  the 
civil  engineering  school  there  are  others  of  great  importance  that  are 
either  given  nowhere  or  are  inadequately  treated  in  a  few  of  the  schools. 
Prominent  among  these  are  the  following:  Political  Economy,  Law: 
Business,  History  of  Engineering,  Oratory,  Debating,  Dictation,  Speci- 
fications and  Contracts,  Graphics,  Secondary  Stresses.  Economics. 
Science  of  Railroading,  Geodesy,  Least  Squares,  Instrumental  Work.. 
Architecture,  Geology,  Tunneling,  and  Dams.  To  this  list  might  be 
added  some  other  subjects  which  are  often  given,  but  which  are  cap- 
able of  considerable  extension;  for  instance,  Metallurgy  of  Iron  and 
Steel,  Harbors,  Canals,  River  Improvement,  Sanitation,  Water-Supply, 
Power-Transmission,  Highway  Engineering,  Mechanical  Engineering; 
Electrical  Engineering,  and  Reinforced  Concrete  Construction. 

Both  lists  are,  no  doubt,  very  incomplete;  nevertheless  they  are 
amply  large  to  show  that  there  are  many  important  branches  of  our 


458  HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

profession  which  are  either  taught  inadequately  or  are  not  taught  at 
all  in  the  technical  schools  of  America. 

But — some  of  you  will  remark — '"Is  it  necessary  for  every  engineer- 
ing student  to  learn  all  of  these  branches?  Surely  in  his  active  career 
he  will  confine  his  attention  mainly  to  two  or  three  lines,  and  in  conse- 
quence will  not  need  much  instruction  in  the  others !" 

To  this  I  would  reply,  "Certainly,  no  man  can  specialize  in  many 
branches  of  engineering  work;  but  the  student  of  a  technical  school  does 
not  know  for  which  lines  he  is  fitted  or  which  specialty  circumstances  may 
induce  him  to  adopt.  Moreover,  every  specialty  in  engineering  is  more 
or  less  closely  allied  to  all  the  other  specialties ;  consequently  it  behooves 
a  broad-gauge  engineer  to  become  somewhat  familiar  with  all  branches 
of  engineering  so  as  to  act  intelligently  when  his  business  involves  him 
in  other  specialties  than  his  own." 

As  an  example  of  how  the  various  branches  of  engineering  are  in- 
terwoven and  allied,  I  would  call  attention  to  the  facts  that  the  bridge 
specialist  in  designing  movable  bridges  always  encounters  mechanical  en- 
gineering and  sometimes  electrical  engineering ;  on  the  approaches  to 
bridges  he  includes  railroading;  in  the  pavements  of  wagon  bridges  he 
touches  upon  highway  engineering;  in  the  protection  of  structures  he 
meets  with  river  improvement ;  in  the  machinery  houses  of  swing  spans 
he  includes  architecture;  in  the  guarding  of  bridges  against  fire  he  en- 
counters water  supply;  in  the  switches,  signals,  and  interlocking  plant 
for  movable  bridges  he  meets  with  a  special  department  of  railway  work ; 
and  in  the  testing  of  materials  for  superstructure  he  encounters  chem- 
istry and  metallurgy.  That  this  statement  is  no  exaggeration  my  pres- 
ent work  will  bear  witness,  for  my  firm  is  to-day  engaged  on  the  design- 
ing and  supervision  of  construction  of  a  number  of  bridges  in  which 
all  of  the  lines  of  work  just  mentioned  are  involved. 

As  another  example,  the  railroad  engineer  encounters  hydraulic  prob- 
lems in  bank  protection  and  pumping  plants,  architecture  and  structural 
engineering  in  round-houses  and  other  buildings,  sanitation  in  station- 
houses,  bridge  work  in  the  structures  for  his  line,  mechanical  engineering 
in  interlocking  plants,  electrical  engineering  in  repair-shop  machinery, 
and  highway  engineering  where  his  line  passes  through  large  cities. 

Again,  the  hydraulic  engineer  trespasses  on  the  ground  of  the  archi- 
tect in  his  power  buildings,  and  on  that  of  the  structural  engineer  in  the 
steel  roof-trusses  for  them,  encounters  mechanical  engineering  in  his 
pumping  machinery,  and  has  to  fall  back  upon  chemistry  in  testing  the 
qualities  of  water. 


WADDELL.  459 

There  is  no  need  for  further  illustration ;  for  enough  examples  have 
been  quoted  to  show  that  all  the  main  divisions  of  engineering  are  inter- 
dependent and  inseparable. 

Now  while  it  is  eminently  proper,  and  in  truth  necessary,  for  a 
specialist  to  call  to  his  aid  experts  in  other  lines  when  his  practice  in- 
volves engineering  in  other  branches  than  his  own,  it  is  highly  inad- 
visable that  he  be  absolutely  ignorant  of  everything  in  those  other  lines. 
Surely  he  ought  to  understand  the  fundamental  principles  which  govern 
the  engineering  work  therein,  even  if  he  has  to  entrust  the  details  to  his 
associated  engineers! 

But  how  can  a  man  become  acquainted  with  all  branches  of  engi-. 
neering?  Certainly  not  by  attending  the  technical  schools  with  their 
present  curricula,  nor  by  endeavoring  to  practice  in  the  various  branch- 
es. The  brevity  of  life  makes  these  methods  impossible  at  present,  al- 
though it  might  not  have  done  so  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  when 
the  amount  of  accumulated  knowledge  concerning  engineering  was  ever 
so  much  smaller  than  it  is  to-day. 

It  is  true  that  but  few  young  men  would  be  willing  to  study 
enough  to  post  themselves  on  all  of  the  main  branches  of  engineering; 
and  in  fact  the  large  majority  of  the  students  of  technical  schools  appear 
to  believe  that  the  shorter  and  easier  the  course  leading  to  their  de- 
gree the  better  for  them.  Nevertheless,  there  are  almost  invariably 
in  every  class  a  few  who  are  eager  to  secure  a  broad  and  thorough 
education  in  spite  of  all  the  labor  involved  in  attaining  it;  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  serious  regret  that  such  men  cannot  now  accomplish  their 
desire. 

Can  there  be  evolved  any  means  for  enabling  these  young  men 
to  satisfy  their  praiseworthy  aspiration?  Yes;  and  later  on  I  shall 
indicate  it  to  you;  but  first  let  ITS  consider  what  can  readily  be  done 
to  make  more  practical  and  thorough  the  course  given  to-day  in  the 
principal  technical  schools. 

Much  could  be  accomplished  by  raising  the  requirements  for 
entrance  so  as  to  ensure  that  each  member  of  the  Freshman  class  is 
fairly  well  posted  in  English  and  the  other  studies  usually  included 
in  an  ordinarily  good  American  education.  He  need  not  be  a  master 
in  all  these  lines,  but  he  should  be  well  grounded  in  them. 

Again,  a  large  portion  of  the  present  work  of  the  Freshman  year 
might  satisfactorily  be  required  for  entrance  to  the  course,  and  the 
time  thus  saved  could  be  devoted  to  work  now  occupying  the 
Sophomore  and  even  the  Junior  years,  thus  leaving  later  on  time  for 
higher  studies.  More  time,  too,  could  be  gained  for  this  purpose 


460  HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

in  many  schools  by  omitting  unnecessary  studies  from  the  curricula, 
notably  the  foreign  languages. 

One  of  the  most  effective  ways  is  to  increase  the  number  of  work- 
ing months  in  the  year  from  eight  or  nine  to  eleven.  This  need  not 
involve  a  hardship  for  either  the  students  or  the  professors,  because 
the  summer  months  could  be  devoted  to  field  work,  which  would 
afford  rest  for  weary  brains  and  would  build  up  weak  constitutions, 
while  by  employing  more  professors  in  the  faculty  the  extent  of 
each  one's  annual  work  could  be  reduced  to  any  reasonable  amount. 
The  most  effective  method  of  all,  however,  is  to  increase  the  dura- 
tion of  the  course  to  five  years. 

But  all  the  additional  time  thus  gained  would  not  be  sufficient 
to  make  each  student  a  master  of  the  theory  and  conversant  with  the 
practice  in  all  branches  of  civil  engineering,  although  the  course  that 
could  be  thus  given  would  cover  nearly  twice  as  much  ground  as  the 
average  technical  course  at  the  present  time.  The  strictly  technical 
studies  now  occupy  but  little  more  than  two  years ;  consequently  another 
year,  when  the  student's  capacity  for  work  is  so  greatly  increased  by  his 
previous  study,  would  probably  double  the  technical  knowledge  of 
the  present  graduate. 

Courses  such  as  just  suggested  are  going  to  be  given  in  the  not 
very  distant  future;  and  they  are  in  reality  almost  a  necessity  today. 
The  rapid  advances  in  engineering  science  are  calling  loudly  for  better 
prepared  young  men  to  fill  for  a  short  time  subordinate  positions,  and 
then  advance  rapidly  to  places  of  trust  and  responsibility ;  and,  as  in 
all  walks  of  life  in  this  great  country  of  ours,  the  supply,  is  certain 
quickly  to  meet  the  demand. 

The  method  that  I  propose  for  the  advancement  of  engineering, 
education  in  America  to  the  highest  possible  plane,  and  to  enable 
the  studious,  energetic,  and  ambitious  graduates  of  all  technical  schools 
to  continue  their  engineering  studies  in  both  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical lines  to  any  extent  they  may  desire  is  as  follows : 

Let  one  of  America's  multi-millionaires  found  and  endow  most 
liberally  a  post-graduate  school  of  civil  engineering,  in  which  would 
be  employed  as  officers,  professors,  and  lecturers  men  of  the  highest 
talent  in  the  country,  irrespective  of  what  it  may  cost,  and  let  the  in- 
stitution be  established  and  equipped  upon  the  broadest  lines.  There 
should  be  a  comparatively  small  corps  of  permanent  professors,  but 
the  principal  instruction  should  be  given  by  practicing  engineers 
chosen  from  the  best  known  and  most  competent  in  the  profession. 
In  order  to  secure  them  it  might  be  necessary  to  reimburse  them  for 
their  time  even  at  maximum  consultation  rates.  It  would  not  do  to 


WADDELL.  461 

make  a  practice  of  paying  much  less,  as  each  instructor  should  be 
placed  upon  his  metal  in  order  to  insure  the  best  possible  results 
from  his  work.  In  some  cases  this  might  not  be  practicable,  if  the 
instructor  felt  that  his  work  was  something  of  a  "charity  job";  but 
if  he  were  convinced  that  neither  pecuniarily  nor  professionally  would 
he  be  losing  anything  by  teaching,  he  would  be  certain  to  put  forth 
his  best  efforts  and  endeavor  to  teach  each  student  as  much  as  pos- 
sible of  the  best  he  knows. 

The  function  of  the  permanent  professors  would  be  to  keep  the 
various  departments  active  at  such  times  as  the  lecturers  would  be 
absent,  and  ensure  that  the  students  should  always  have  some  one  to 
refer  to  concerning  their  studies  and  investigations.  It  should  also 
be  the  business  of  the  permanent  professors  to  study  current  engineer- 
ing literature,  and  to  excerpt  therefrom  and  deliver  in  the  form  of. 
lectures  everything  likely  to  be  of  real  value  to  the  students,  as  well 
as  to  call  their  attention  to  the  articles  which  each  one  ought  to  read. 
They  should  also  teach  the  student  the  knack  of  reading  current 
technical  literature  so  as  to  obtain  its  gist  with  minimum  effort  and 
loss  of  time. 

They  should  prepare  a  work  discussing  engineering  literature 
that  would  include  all  technical  books  which  are  in  accord  with  cur- 
rent practice,  show  their  scope,  and  indicate  their  good  and  their  bad 
points.  This  treatise  should  be  re-written  from  time  to  time  so  as  to 
keep  it  up  to  date. 

The  permanent  professors  should  also  be  required  to  translate  or 
assist  in  the  translation  of  all  engineering  books  in  foreign  languages, 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  competent  experts,  would  prove  useful  to 
American  engineers  or  to  the  students  of  the  institution. 

The  president  or  director  of  such  a  school  should  be  the  most 
broad-guage,  profound,  and  progressive  engineer  in  the  entire  country, 
and  the  governing  body  or  trustees  should  look  to  him  to  see  that  the 
maintenance  and  development  of  the  course  of  instruction  are  such 
as  to  accomplish  to  the  utmost  the  great  object  of  the  school's  existence. 

Original  investigation  by  both  the  professors  and  the  students 
should  be  provided  for  and  encouraged  in  every  way,  and  the  results 
should  be  published  in  an  official  paper  of  the  institution.  These  in- 
vestigations should  be  of  an  eminently  practical  nature  and  calculated 
to  improve  engineering  practice  or  lead  to  valuable  discoveries  in 
technical  science.  A  great  testing  laboratory,  the  most  complete  and 
perfect  in  the  world,  should  be  an  adjunct  of  this  institution,  and  its 
constant  use  should  form  a  part  of  the  curriculum. 


462  HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

Designing  should  be  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  course  of 
instruction,  and  should  be  employed  in  every  course  where  its  use  is 
practicable.  Nothing  will  teach  a  man  a  subject  involving  engineer- 
ing construction  more  thoroughly  than  the  making  of  a  complete  and 
accurate  design  for  some  special  case,  unless  perhaps  it  be  the  teach- 
ing of  that  subject  to  technical  students.  All  designing  should  be 
done  in  the  class  room  under  the  direct  supervision  of  experts,  and 
in  the  same  detailed  and  thorough  manner  that  is,  or  should  be, 
characteristic  of  designing  done  in  the  offices  of  consulting  engineers. 

One  prominent  feature  of  the  curriculum  should  be  the  study 
of  both  pure  and  applied  mathematics,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of 
refreshing  the  memories  of  the  students  and  supplementing  previous 
faulty  instruction,  but  also  in  order  to  carry  this  study  farther  than  is 
customary  in  technical  schools.  The  main  object  of  the  course, 
"though,  should  be  to  teach  the  students  to  do  original  mathematical 
work,  thus  enabling  them  to  solve  difficult  problems  in  the  highest 
branches  of  engineering. 

Another  prominent  feature  of  the  course  should  be  numerous 
visits  by  the  professors  and  students,  both  together  and  separately, 
to  works  under  construction,  finished  structures,  and  industries  of  all 
kinds ;  and  special  facilities  for  studying  these  should  be  arranged 
for  in  advance  by  the  president  or  the  governing  board. 

No  special  length  of  time  should  be  set  for  the  duration  of  the 
course,  but  each  student  within  certain  reasonable  limits  should  be 
given  the  privilege  of  choosing  his  subjects  and  the  time  for  taking 
them.  It  would  be  well  to  arrange  to  give  those  who  do  a  certain 
amount  of  studying  at  the  institution  certificates  to  that  effect,  and 
to  those  who  pass  a  satisfactory  examination  in  one  of  a  number  of 
prescribed  courses  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Science  or  Doctor  of  En- 
gineering, as  the  case  may  be ;  for  the  instruction  given  at  such  a 
school  would  certainly  be  as  profound  as  that  offered  by  any  insti- 
tution of  learning  in  the  world ;  and  those  fully  profiting  by  it  would 
most  decidedly  be  worthy  of  a  doctor's  degree. 

Let  us  now  consider  briefly  some  of  the  courses  that  I  would 
advocate  giving  in  such  a  post-graduate  school  of  engineering.  It  is 
not  my  intention  to  try,  to  make  these  suggestions  at  all  complete  but 
merely  to  outline  some  of  the  possibilities  for  extending  engineering 
education. 

A  knowledge  of  political  economy  is  of  great  value  to  the  civil 
engineer  in«  his  relations  with  the  government  (national,  state  and 
municipal),  with  capitalists  and  corporations,  and  with  manufacturers. 

In  acting  for  the   government   or  in   dealing  with   it    a  thorough 


WADDELL.  463 

knowledge  of  its  nature  and  functions,  the  extent  of  its  control  over 
constructions,  the  relation  between  its  fiscal  and  engineering  depart- 
ments, and  its  control  over  and  obligations  to  the  public,  is  essential 
to  the  successful  engineer. 

In  dealing  with  common  carriers  and  other  quasi-public  corpor- 
ations, a  thorough  knowledge  of  their  relation  to  the  public,  their 
responsibility  to  the  government,  and  their  organization  and  manage- 
ment, is  of  the  greatest  importance. 

The  engineer  for  a  manufacturing  concern  should  be  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  operation  of  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  with 
the  relations  between  capital  and  labor,  with  the  theories  of  compe- 
tition, and  with  the  organization  of  industries. 

All  these  things  and  many  others  that  come  under  the  head  of 
political  economy  should  be  taught  in  the  proposed  post-graduate  school. 

A  general  knowledge  of  law  in  its  relations  to  contracts,  organi- 
zation of  companies,  rights  of  corporations,  and  many  other  important 
matters  connected  directly  or  indirectly  with  engineering  work  is 
essential  to  the  highest  professional  success. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  business  should  be  taught  to  all 
engineering  students,  and  they  should  be  instructed  carefully  in  re- 
spect to  all  such  matters  as  stocks,  bonds,  and  other  securities,  and  the 
floating  of  same.  Even  such  an  elementary  subject  as  the  keeping  of 
accounts  should  not  be  ignored. 

Concerning  the  history  of  civil  engineering  I  need  say  nothing 
here  except  that  it  should  form  a  part  of  the  curriculum  of  every 
technical  school.  Possibly  many  of  you  know  that  I  am  making  a 
systematic  and  determined  effort  to  induce  the  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  Engineering  Education  to  undertake  the  preparation  of  an 
exhaustive  history  of  civil  engineering  in  all  its  branches.  Thus  far 
nothing  has  occurred  to  make  me  despair  of  success  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  purpose. 

But  few  technical  men  are  fluent  speakers,  and  as  it  is  often  the 
engineer's  province  to  persuade  capitalists  into  the  undertaking  of  enter- 
prises, or  to  argue  in  the  defense  of  one's  rights  in  competition  or  of 
those  of  one's  clients  in  legal  controversies,  a  knowledge  of  oratory  and 
experience  in  debate  must  be  of  great  service  in  one's  professional  career ; 
consequently,  the  study  and  practice  of  these  matters  should  be  given 
due  attention  in  the  proposed  post-graduate  school. 

The  ability  to  dictate  readily  to  a  stenographer  well  expressed 
letters,  descriptions,  contracts,  and  specifications  is  enjoyed  by  very 
few  engineers,  and  these  few  did  not  obtain  their  knowledge  of  this 
accomplishment  at  the  technical  school,  but  through  a  long  continued 


464  HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

effort,  much  patience,  and  numerous  discouragements.  Every  engineer- 
ing student  should  be  drilled  in  dictation  until  be  becomes  proficient. 

The  writing  of  first-class  specifications  and  contracts  is  an  art 
that  cannot  be  acquired  except  through  experience;  nevertheless  its 
acquisition  can  be  hastened  materially  by  a  thorough  drill  at  the  tech- 
nical school  in  the  underlying  principles  of  such  writings,  as  well  as 
in  the  practice  of  their  composition. 

In  American  schools  of  engineering  the  study  of  graphics  is  con- 
fined almost  exclusively  to  the  determination  of  stresses  in  framed 
structures;  but  in  Europe  it  is  carried  much  farther,  entering  into 
almost  all  kinds  of  computations.  The  graphical  calculations  of  a  high- 
ly educated  German  or  Swiss  engineer  are  beautiful  to  contemplate ; 
and  although  it  may  not  be  advisable  to  utilize  graphics  in  practice  to  the 
extent  that  these  foreign  engineers  are  inclined  to,  nevertheless,  in  my 
opinion,  American  technical  schools  have  much  to  learn  in  this  par- 
ticular from  those  of  Continental  Europe.  On  this  account  it  would 
be  well  to  include  in  the  proposed  curriculum  an  elaborate  course  in 
higher  graphics. 

The  subject  of  economics  is  one  that  is  intimately  related  to  every 
branch  of  civil  engineering,  and  its  importance  is  such  that  not  only, 
as  previously  stated,  should  it  receive  due  attention  in  the  study  of 
all  such  branches,  but  also  it  is  deserving  of  a  special  course,  in  which 
its  relations  to  all  important  professional  and  business  affairs  are  ex- 
pounded. 

Few  American  engineers  pay  much  attention  to  secondary  stresses 
in  framed  structures,  but  European  engineers  are  trained  on  their 
theory;  and  while  it  is  true  that  the  best  way  to  treat  secondary  stresses 
is  to  avoid  them  in  one's  design,  still  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of 
their  cause  and  magnitude  would  enable  one  to  do  so  to  far  better 
advantage;  hence  a  course  in  their  theory  should  be  given  in  our  post- 
graduate school. 

As  far  as  I  know,  the  science  of  railroading  is  not  taught  in  any 
technical  school,  the  elementary  principles  and  practice  of  surveying 
and  construction  constituting  the  extent  of  the  course  in  that  subject. 
The  science  of  railroading  pertains  to  more  abstruse  subjects,  such  as 
the  adjustment  of  grades  and  curves  to  traffic ;  the  laying  out  of  ter- 
minal yards  for  economical  handling  of  cars;  the  reconstruction  of 
cheap  roads  so  as,  with  minimum  interruption  of  traffic,  to  change 
them  into  first-class  trunk  lines ;  the  economic  maintenance  of  track 
and  rolling  stock ;  the  relations  that  motive  power,  car  equipment, 
rails,  ties,  ballast,  speed,  and  volume  of  traffic  bear  to  each  other;  and 
how  changes  in  any  one  of  these  features  affect  the  rest.  A  thorough 


WADDELL.  465 

course  in  all  such  details  of  railroading  would  be  of  great  value  to  the 
student  and  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  railroad  system  of  the 
country. 

The  true  science  of  bridge  design  does  not  receive  much  atten- 
tion in  technical  schools,  or  at  least  it  is  only  its  elementary  features 
that  are  treated.  The  reason  for  this  is  not  lack  of  proper  books,  but 
want  of  time.  In  our  post-graduate  school  there  should  be  given  a 
course  in  bridges  far  surpassing  in  extent,  thoroughness,  and  ex- 
cellence any  course  on  the  subject  yet  given  or  even  contemplated. 
The  new  types  of  steel-and-concrete  bridges  should  not  only  be  cover- 
ed in  the  course;  but  also  the  permanent  professors  both  by  experi- 
mentation and  mathematical  investigations  should  establish  a  proper 
theory  for  the  designing  of  such  structures.  Substructure  and  founda- 
tions should  be  treated  much  more  elaborately  than  is  customary  in 
other  technical  schools. 

The  study  of  geodesy  in  both  theory  and  practice,  with  the  nec- 
essarily closely  associated  theory  of  least  squares,  should  be  given 
proper  attention. 

A  much  more  elaborate  course  in  instrumental  work  and  meas- 
urements of  precision  than  is  usual  should  form  a  part  of  this  cur- 
riculum; and  all  the  latest  and  most  complicated  types  of  surveying 
instruments  should  be  described  in  the  class  room  and  used  in  the 
field.  A  student's  knowledge  of  an  instrument  should  not  be  consid- 
ered complete  until  he  has  learned  to  take  it  apart,  clean  it,  put  it 
together,  and  bring  it  into  perfect  adjustment. 

Measurements  of  precision,  equal  in  accuracy  to  those  perform- 
ed by  the  leading  engineers  on  important  bridge  work,  should  be  made 
by  the  students  under  the  direct  supervision  of  expert  instructors. 

An  elementary  but  complete  course  in  architecture,  especially  as 
it  relates  to  engineering  constructions,  should  form  a  part  of  the 
curriculum;  and  special  attention  should  be  paid  to  aesthetics  in  de- 
signing. 

A  sound,  practical  working  course  in  geology,  mineralogy,  and 
allied  subjects  should  not  be  omitted. 

A  special  course  should  be  given  on  tunneling,  and  it  should  in- 
clude the  designing  of  tunnels  of  all  kinds  to  meet  all  possible  conditions. 

There  should  be  also  a  thorough  course  on  the  designing  and  con- 
struction of  dams  of  every  description. 

In  the  course  on  the  metallurgy  of  iron  and  steel  the  student 
should  obtain  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  mechanical  processes 
and  the  chemistry  of  their  manufacture  according  to  the  latest  prac- 
tice; and  a  full  description  of  all  previous  and  abandoned  methods 


466  HIGHER  EDUCATION  FOR  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 

should  be  given,  as  a  knowledge  of  what  has  been  done  in  the  past 
often  saves  a  great  amount  of  labor  when  an  endeavor  is  made  to  im- 
prove upon  present  methods;  and  long  disused  plans  are  frequently 
re-invented  at  great  expense. 

A  knowledge  of  the  action  of  iron  and  steel  under  the  ordinary 
working-  conditions  is  essential  to  the  proper  use  of  these  metals  in 
designing.  A  general  idea  thereof  obtained  from  a  few  tests  and 
lectures,  such  as  is  commonly  gained  by  the  engineering  student, 
serves  principally  to  befog  the  mind  of  the  young  engineer,  and  leaves 
him  wholly  unprepared  to  handle  problems  involving  rapid  vibration 
or  heavy  shock.  On  this  account  the  testing  of  these  metals  in  various 
forms  and  under  differing  conditions  should  be  included  in  the  course 
of  instruction. 

The  designing  and  construction  of  harbors  and  canals  of  all  kinds 
and  the  improvements  of  rivers  under  all  possible  conditions  should  be 
treated  much  more  elaborately  than  is  customary  in  technical  schools ; 
and  hydraulic  experiments  with  the  latest  and  most,  improved  types 
of  current  meters  should  be  made  by  each  student  in  the  class. 

The  important  subject  of  water  supply  should  be  taught  in  full 
detail,  and  experiments  on  the  flow  of  water  in  pipes  and  a  study  of 
bacteriology  should  constitute  portions  of  the  course. 

An  exhaustive  study  of  sanitary  engineering  and  all  its  important 
features  should  be  included  as  a  part  of  the  curriculum,  and  sewage 
disposal  should  be  studied  thoroughly  by  both  professors  and  students 
for  the  purpose  of  effecting  much  needed  improvements  in  that  branch 
of  engineering  science. 

Power  transmission  by  the  latest  and  most  economical  methods 
should  also  be  taught. 

.  Highway  engineering  should  not  be  neglected,  and  the  effect  of  good 
roads  upon  the  development  of  a  country  or  a  district  should  be  in- 
vestigated. 

No  civil  engineering  curriculum  is  complete  without  elementary 
but  thorough  courses  in  mechanical  engineering  and  electrical  engi- 
neering; consequently  there  should  be  special  departments  for  them  in 
our  post-graduate  school ;  and  the  professors  in  these  branches  should 
endeavor  to  evolve  a  complete  set  of  scientific  principles  for  design- 
ing the  details  of  machinery,  corresponding  somewhat  in  style  and  ex- 
tent to  the  principles  that  have  been  established  for  the  designing  of 
steel  bridges. 

The  advantages  to  be  obtained  by  attendance  at  such  a  post-grad- 
uate school  as  the  one  advocated  are  almost  beyond  expression!  A 
degree  from  such  a  school  would  always  insure  rapid  success  for  its 


WADDELL.  467 

recipient.  Possibly  for  two  or  three  years  after  taking  it  a  young  engi- 
neer would  have  less  earning  capacity  than  his  classmates  of  equal  abili- 
ty from  the  lower  technical  school,  who  had  gone  directly  into  actual 
practice.  However,  in  five  years  he  certainly  would  have  surpassed 
them,  and  in  less  than  ten  years  he  would  be  a  recognized  authority, 
while  a  majority  of  the  others  would  be  forming  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  profession  with  none  of  them  approaching  at  all  closely  in  rep- 
utation the  more  highly  educated  engineer. 

But  if  the  advantages  of  the  proposed  school  to  the  individual 
are  so  great,  how  much  greater  would  be  its  advantages  to  the  en- 
gineering profession  and  to  the  entire  nation!  After  a  few  years  of 
its  existence  there  would  be  scattered  throughout  the  country  a  num- 
ber of  engineers  more  highly  trained  in  the  arts  and  sciences  than  any 
technical  men  who  have  ever  lived;  and  it  certainly  would  not  take 
long  to  make  apparent  the  impress  of  their  individuality  and  knowl- 
edge upon  the  development  of  civil  engineering  in  all  its  branches, 
with  a  resulting  betterment  to  all  kinds  of  constructions  and  the  evo- 
lution of  many  new  and  important  types. 

When  one  considers  that  the  true  progress  of  the  entire  civilized 
world  is  due  almost  entirely  to  the  work  of  its  engineers,  the  im- 
portance of  providing  the  engineering  profession  with  the  highest 
possible  education  in  both  theoretical  and  practical  lines  cannot  be 
exaggerated. 

What  greater  or  more  worthy  use  for  his  accumulated  wealth 
could  an  American  multi-millionaire-  conceive  than  the  endowment 
and  establishment  of  a  post-graduate  school  of  civil  engineering  such 
as  I  have  tonight  attempted  to  describe! 

Should  this  address  of  mine  by  reaching  the  eye  of  one  of  those 
multi-millionaires  be  the  means  of  inducing  him  to  endow  such  a  school, 
I  should  consider  its  preparation  to  be  the  greatest  work  of  my  entire 
professional  career ! 


CLOSING  LECTURE  TO  SENIOR  CLASS. 
By 

Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff. 

The  appeal  of  this  address  should  reach  directly  to  the  heart  of 
every  newly  fledged  engineer;  for  its  sound  rings  true,  and  the  cor- 
rectness of  its  dictum  cannot  be  gainsaid.  It  is  not  every  professor 
who  will  risk  losing  popularity  with  his  students  by  talking  plainly 
to  them,  as  Prof.  Karapetoff  does,  concerning  matters  purely  per- 
sonal and  not  in  any  way  connected  with  the  curriculum.  All  honor 
to  him,  then,  for  his  courage  and  his  broad-mindedness;  and  may  he 
long  continue  to  discourse  to  young  men  concerning  the  ethics  of 
life  and  the  moral  responsibilities  of  students  and  engineers! 

Editors. 


469 


CLOSING  LECTURE  TO  SENIOR  CLASS. 
By 

Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff. 

I  have  delivered  the  last  lecture  in  your  course  but  there  is  still  one 
more  to  give  you  that  is  not  usually  included  in  works  on  electrical 
engineering.  It  is  on  the  text :  "Cash  up"  or  to  be  more  literary,  "pay 
your  accounts." 

You  soon  shall  hear  plenty  of  advice  in  regard  to  the  wisdom  of 
life.  I  wish  to  impress  on  your  minds  that  you  cannot  start  your 
life  aright  until  you  shall  have  closed  your  present  accounts.  Pay  your 
debts.  Return  that  borrowed  book  and  those  other  articles,  such  as  golf 
sticks,  tennis  rackets,  and  the  like.  Also  repair  all  damage  that  you 
have  done  purposely  or  inadvertently.  Do  this  so  that  you  can  look 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  now  in  Ithaca  straight  in  the  face. 
But  this  is  merely  the  beginning  of  the  closing  of  your  accounts,  the 
"prelim." 

See  other  students  with  whom  you  have  had  some  difficulty  or 
"contre-temps,"  shake  hands  and  say  you  are  sorry  for  the  mishap 
and  that  you  wish  the  slate  wiped  out.  Then  there  are  other  '09  men 
and  women  against  whom  you  felt  somewhat  distant  or  hostile,  per- 
haps on  account  of  differences  in  temperament,  tastes,  or  finances. 
Was  it  due  to  a  bit  of  jealousy? 

Well,  are  you  not  afraid  to  carry  a  big  burden  all  through  life? 
Better  go  .to  those  you  liked  the  least,  clasp  both  their  hands  (alle- 
gorically  if  you  like)  and  look  into  their  eyes.  Look,  I  say  and  look 
again,  and  as  you  are  looking,  the  sham  images  that  your  mind  created 
will  gradually  disappear.  Then  you  both  will  see  each  other  in  the  true 
light  as  perfect  children  of  God,  trying  each  to  solve  his  or  her  life's 
problem  to  the  best  of  one's  understanding.  You  should  do  this  more- 
over, for  you  need  each  other's  help  and  sympathy. 

Do  you  still  begrudge  your  landlady  the  small  things  that  she 
did  or  neglected  to  do?  How  about  yourself?  What  about  your 
omissions  and  commissions?  It  is  all  over  now.  Soon  will  you  shake 
off  the  dust  of  Ithaca,  but  before  doing  so  tell  your  landlady  that  you 
are  sorry  about  that  disturbance  you  made  and  the  broken  chair  that 
resulted  and  also  the  small  fire  started  by  throwing  lighted  matches  in 

'     471 


472  CLOSING  LECTURE  TO  SENIOR  CLASS. 

V 

the  waste  basket.  Also  the  damage  you  did  to  the  wall  by  driving 
nails  to  hang  up  those  interesting  pictures.  But  above  all  be  actually 
sorry.  Don't  sham  about  it. 

The  faculty  and  the  registrar  certainly  did  not  treat  you  right  on 
all  occasions,  for  they  are  human,  of  course.  What  are  you  going  to 
do  about  it?  Are  you  going  to  poison  the  joys  of  coming  years  by 
carrying  such  reminders  home  with  you?  Settle  your  accounts  now 
and  for  all  time  as  far  as  Ithaca  is  concerned.  A  great  Russian  writer 
has  well  said,  "To  know  all  is  to  forgive  all." 

Put  yourselves  in  their  places  and  see  if  you  cannot  allow  some 
extenuating  circumstance.     If  not,  live  the  same  occurrence  over  again 
in  your  mind  and  imagine  the  guilty  person  to  act  right.     Then  when 
ever  you  remember  the  incident  later  on  always  see  it  in  the  ideal  light. 
In  this  life  of  ups  and  downs,  play  for  the  ups  and  ignore  the  downs. 

Do  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  leave  Ithaca.  Close  first  the  university 
life's  account.  For  several  days  after  you  have  finished  your  work 
here  go  up  to  the  campus,  sit  down  under  a  spreading  tree  on  the 
quadrangle  and  watch  calmly  the  procession.  Recall  the  memories 
of  the  days  gone  by  and  live  that  university  life  over  again.  Live  it 
in  the  true  ideal  way  and  then  leave  Ithaca  as  men,  reconciled  and 
refreshed,  prepared  for  the  active,  the  energetic,  the  truly  efficient  life. 


THE  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

By 

Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff. 

The  place  of  honor  in  this  collection  of  addresses  is  reserved 
for  Prof.  KarapetofFs  thoughtful  and  masterly  presentation  of  advice 
to  young  engineers.  In  no  other  writing  have  the  Editors  ever  seen 
so  many  sound  precepts  in  such  a  condensed  form.  All  that  is  said  is 
so  terse,  so  true,  and  so  appealing  that  one  cannot  but  admire  the 
author's  thorough  conception  of  both  the  practical  and  the  ethical  life. 
No  thinking  man  can  peruse  this  address  without  desiring  to  read  it 
again  and  again ;  and  each  time  he  reads  it  he  will  receive  new  benefit. 

No  man  could  conceive  such  profound  ideas  and  use  such  stirring 
words  as  these  without  truly  feeling  and  meaning  them  from  the 
bottom  of  his  heart;  and  although  the  Editors  have  never  yet  had  the 
pleasure  of  making  Prof.  KarapetofPs  acquaintance,  they  desire  here 
to  express  their  appreciation  of  him  as  a  writer  and  as  an  ethicist,  also 
their  hope  that  he  will  continue  in  the  future  to  give  to  the  world  the 
benefit  of  his  earnest  thoughts  and  lofty  ideals  in  relation  to  the  rules  of 
conduct  which  should  govern  engineers  in  their  dealings  with  each  other 
and  with  the  community  in  general. 

Editors. 


473 


THE  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

(AN  OUTLINE.) 
Professor  Vladimir  Karapetoff.    , 

FUNDAMENTAL  THOUGHT: 

Professional  usefulness  and  personal  satisfaction  depend  on  the 
right  conception  of  life  and  on  the  degree  in -which  this  conception  of 
life  is  manifested  in  daily  activity. 

PART  L— WORK  AND  CONDUCT. 

There  are  three  essential  requisites  for  an  efficient  and  successful 
engineer : 

A.  Sound  professional  knowledge; 

B.  Knowledge  of  business  forms  and  of  human  relations ; 

C.  Good  and  strong  character. 

A.  PROFESSIONAL  KNOWLEDGE.  A  man  who  knows  only  "how"  to 
do  certain  things,  but  does  not  know  "why"  they  are  done  so,  usually 
remains  in  subordinate  positions.  Get  into  the  habit  of  analyzing; 
also,  have  your  knowledge  systematized. 

In  order  not  to  get  "rusty,"  you  ought  to  do  some  study,  or  at 
least  some  reading  outside  of  your  daily  routine  work.  This  outside  work 
may  be  classified,  in  an  ascending  scale  of  difficulty,  as  follows : 

1.  Keep  notes  on  your  regular  work,  with  sketches,  samples  of 
calculations,  etc.    On  separate  notes  keep  matters  of  doubt  to  straighten 
them  out  at  a  future  opportunity. 

2.  Read  regularly  at  least  one  periodical  relating  to  your  specialty, 
and  keep  some  kind  of  a  general  index  on  at  least  one  subject  in  which 
you  are  particularly  interested. 

3.  Be   sure   about   the    fudamental  -laws,    facts,   and   assumptions 
on  which  your  branch  of  engineering  is  based.     If  you  are  but  recently 
from  college,  you  can  go  over  your  old  books  and  notes;  otherwise 
read  a  good  modern  text  book. 

4.  Gradually  get  familiar  with  more  advanced  books  treating  of 
the  various  branches  of  your  profession;  go  from  time  to  time  to  the 
public  library  and  see  if  there  is  anything  new  in  your  specialty. 

5.  Select  some  one  branch  of  engineering,  if  possible,  somewhat 
different  from  that  in  which  you  are  regularly  engaged  and  devote  some 
time  to  it.     Know  more  than  the  next  fellow  does;  it  will  pay  you. 

475 


476  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

6.  Do  not  miss  any  chance  to  make  an  original  investigation;  this 
will  develop  your  thinking,  increase  your  self-confidence,  and  raise  your 
standing  in  the  profession. 

7.  Inventing  is  the  highest  form  of  engineering  activity;  there  is 
no  reason  why  you  should  not  bring  some  improvement  into  the  work 
in  which  you  are  engaged.     Concentrate  your  mind  on  one  thing,  work 
patiently  and  persistently,  and  you  will  be  sure  to  achieve  something 
that  will  be  new  and  useful. 

B.  Knowledge  of  Business  Forms  and  of  Men.  You  naturally 
expect  some  day  to  occupy  a  responsible  position  in  your  profession. 
This  is  impossible  without  a  sound  knowledge  of  established  business 
forms  and  of  human  relations  in  general.  Here  again  there  are  several 
stages  of  study  and  observation.  Take  up  as  many  of  them  as  your  am- 
bition, time,  and  ability  will  allow. 

1.  Observe  the  characters  of  men  you  are  working  with;  in  par- 
ticular, the  influence  of  their  previous  experience  and  education,  of  their 
age  and  temperament,  of  their  views  on  general  life  questions,  etc. 

2.  Observe  things  that  make  them  efficient  and  happy,  or  that  are 
impediments  in  their  work;  things  that  they  would  like  to  have  and  the 
main  things  that  they  object  to. 

3.  Observe  critically  your  superiors  and  their  ways  of  acting  to- 
wards their  chiefs  and  subordinates.     Do  this  without  malice,  but  rather 
with  a  sincere  desire  to  find  out  the  best  way  of  conducting  the  work, 
when  you  shall  be  called  to  perform  their  duties.     Make  for  yourself 
a  clear  mental  picture  of  an  ideal  man  in  a  certain  position,  and  try  to 
follow  this  ideal  in  your  own  business  life. 

4.  Observe  and  read  about  general  business  systems  adopted  in 
large  modern  commercial  and  industrial  enterprises;  in  particular, 

(a)  Subdivision  of  the  duties  of  various  officers,  and  their  correla- 
tion; 

(b)  Correspondence,  accounting,  orders,  receipts,  etc. ; 

(c)  Causes  of  loss,  waste,  inefficiency,  etc.,  and  possible  remedies. 
Merely  knowing  the  facts  is  not  sufficient:  you  must  see  clearly  the 

necessity  for  a  certain  organization.     Only  then  will  you  find  a  right 
place  in  it  for  yourself  and  efficiently  discharge  your  duties. 

5.  Do  not  get  "rusty"  on  general  life  questions ;  read  books  on 
history,  economics,  philosophy,  etc.,  with  the  view  of  finding  the  under- 
lying facts  and  motives  in  human  relations.     Do  not  adhere  too  readily 
to  a  traditional  school ;  work  out  your  principles  for  yourself,  and  be 
willing  to  change  them  when  new  evidence  is  laid  before  you.     A  man 
in  a  responsible  position  must  be  a  well  educated  man ;  he  meets  a  great 
many  men,  and  has  to  face  new  situations.     Therefore  he  must  be  well 


KARAPETOFF.  477 

informed  on  things  in  general,  and  ought  to  be  able  to  judge  about  them. 

C.  Training  of  the  Character.  Engineering  and  business  knowl- 
edge are  the  necessary  conditions  for  usefulness  ("success"  and  useful- 
ness are  not  always  the  same),  but  the  proper  development  of  the 
character  is  the  third  necessary  condition. 

What  is  the  use  of  having  a  profound  knowledge  of  engineering,  if 
you  have  not  the  necessary  perseverance  to  achieve  results ;  or  to  have  a 
knowledge  of  business  forms  and  relations,  if  your  temper  is  such  that 
nobody  cares  to  be  associated  with  you  in  business? 

Practice  daily  the  qualities  of  the  character  that  you  find  essential 
for  a  good  citizen  and  a  good  business  man. 

1.  Work  patiently  on  any  problem  until  a  result  is  achieved.     If 
it  should  be  impossible  to  get  satisfactory  results,  at  least  make  clear 
to  yourself  the  nature  of  the  hindrances. 

2.  Be  honest  in  all  things;  do  not  be  afraid  to  confess  your  mis- 
takes or  your  ignorance.    Train  your  character  by  doing  your  work  over 
cheerfully. 

3.  Keep  down  your  selfish  personality  and  ambition.     Do  not  let 
them  interfere  with  your  business.     The  highest  goal  of  personality  and 
ambition  is  to  have  your  part  of  the  ivork  done  in  the  most  ideal  way. 

4.  Be  generous,  polite,  and  considerate  to  others;  there  are  no  cir- 
cumstances where  you  would  be  justified  in  breaking  this  rule.    Remain 
dignified  even  under  unjust  reproof. 

5.  Work  with  the  understanding  that  your  activity  of  to-day  shapes 
your    future.     You   need   not   trust   to   chance;   your   opportunity   will 
come  when  you  are  ready  for  it. 


PART  II.— UNDERLYING  MOTIVES. 

(A  THEORY  OF  LIFE.) 

Some  men  are  happy  and  efficient  in  their  work  without  having  any 
clearly  defined  conceptions  of  life  and  its  purpose.  In  a  great  majority 
of  cases,  however,  a  lack  of  a  workable  theory  of  life  brings  with  it  a 
decrease  in  possible  efficiency  and  in  personal  satisfaction.  It  is  of  im- 
portance, therefore,  to  know 

A.  What  are  the  principal  limitations  and  wrong  beliefs  that  are 
hampering  engineers  in  their  work. 

B.  How   these   limitations   can   be   removed   by   working  out   a 
theory  of  life  that  gives  a  general  meaning  to  man's  activity. 

C.  How  an  engineer's  work  is  shaped,  when  his  underlying  mo- 
tives are  illumined  by  such  a  theory  of  life. 

A.  USUAL  LIMITATIONS  that  prevent  an  engineer  from  being  fully 
efficient  and  happy  in  his  work. 


478  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  ENGINEERING  PROFESSION. 

1.  Belief  that  he  is  underpaid;  abnormal  striving  after  money. 

2.  Belief  that  his  efforts  are  not  appreciated  by  his  employer;  also  that 

there  is  no  chance  for  promotion. 

3.  Lack  of  knowledge,  theoretical  or  practical ;  lack  of  general  educa- 

tion; a  deficient  knowledge  of  business  forms  and  human  relations. 
This  is  often  accompanied  by  a  belief  that  he  has  no  time  for  study ; 
in  cases  where  a  man  has  not  exercised  his  mind  for  a  long  time, 
he  has  also  to  contend  with  his  own  mental  apathy. 

4.  Deficiencies  in  character,  such  as  weakness,  roughness,  egotism,  nar- 

rowness, pedantry,  absent-mindedness,  laziness,  etc. 

5.  Lack  of  enthusiasm  due  to  the  absence  of  a  guiding  and  unifying 
purpose  in  life.     This  is  particularly  noticeable  in  very  young  men 
who  are  just  beginning  to  form  their  own  conceptions  of  life,  and 
in  older  men  who  already  see  the  end  of  their  usefulness  and  cherish 
no  more  illusions. 

B.  A  THEORY  OF  LIFE.  Each  man  must  work  out  for  himself  a 
practicable  theory  of  life;  this  will  make  his  acts  and  words,  thoughts 
and  feelings,  harmonious  and  consistent.  The  experience  of  humanity 
past  and  present  is  the  material  to  work  on;  his  reason  is  called  upon 
to  interpret  this,  and  his  conscience  is  the  court  of  final  appeal. 

The  following  is  an  example  of  such  a  theory  of  life:  (*) 

1.  The  Universe,  including  man,  is  governed  by  an  infinite  .intelli- 
gence, which  is  manifested  in  man  as  his  conscious  life.     There  is  no 
meaning  in  a  man's  life  if  it  be  detached  from  other  men's  lives.     In 
proportion  as  he  becomes  conscious  of  this  one,  infinite  life,  common  to 
all  men,  his  own  life  becomes  reasonable  and  harmonious,  and  the  fear 
of  poverty,  sickness,  old  age,  and  death  gradually  disappears. 

2.  The  highest  purpose  of  life  is  to  work  for  the  realization  of  the 
above  ideal  conditions  of  life  on  earth.     We  do  this  either  by  actually 
removing  certain  hindrances  and  fetters  (practical  work),  or  by  making 
this  great  work  clearer  to  others  (literary,  educational  work,  preaching, 
etc.). 

3.  Once  this  attitude  is  understood,  the  real  compensation  for  the 
work  consists,  not  in  money  and  notoriety,  but  in  the  state  of  conscious- 
ness reached.     This  is  manifested  in  particular: 


(*)  It  may  seem  presumptious  on  the  part  of  the  writer,  who  is  not 
a  philosopher  by  trade,  to  formulate  a  "theory  of  life";  this  he  gives, 
however,  simply  in  order  to  illustrate  what  a  practical  doctrine  of  life  (not  a 
"canned"  religion)  may  be.  For  the  author  personally  this  doctrine  is  the 
truth  he  believes  in  and  according  to  which  he  tries  to  shape  his  life;  for 
others  it  may  serve  merely  as  an  example.  He  hopes  that  by  criticizing  his 
metaphysics  readers  may  make  their  own  conceptions  on  the  subject  clearer  to 
themselves,  and  in  this  way  be  indirectly  benefited  even  by  a  theory  pre- 
sumably wrong. 


KARAPETOFF.  479 

(a)  In  a  clear  and  definite  program  of  life,  and  a*  ready  an- 
swer for  all  difficulties  (doing  your  best). 

(b)  In  a  state  of  harmony  and  good  fellowship  with  all  men, 
through  the  understanding  of  that  life  which  is  common 
to  all. 

(c)  In   a   freedom   from   fear,   anger,   jealousy,   apathy,   and 
other  limitations  caused  by  the  assumption  that  life  is  an 
accidental  chain  of  phenomena  and  circumstances. 

C.  WORK  ILLUMINATED  BY  HIGHER  IDEALS.  Once  he  has  obtained  a 
workable  life-theory,  all  of  the  limitations  enumerated  above  that  prevent 
an  engineer  from  being  efficient  and  satisfied  in  his  work  can  be  removed 
by  actually  applying  this  theory  to  his  daily  work. 

1.  The  belief  that  he  is  underpaid  or  not  appreciated  enough  loses 
its  power ;  the  man  works  no  more  for  a  company  or  a  corporation.     He 
works  for  his  conscience's  sake,  and  finds  his  true  compensation  in  the 
results  of  his  work. 

2.  He  is  full  of  desire  to  do  as  much  as  he  can,  and  not  as  little  as 
he  is  allowed  to.     For  this  reason  he  wants  to  know  much  and  to  have 
his  knowledge  in  a  practical   form,  ready  for  use.     He  is  active  and 
studious  all  the  time,  and  the  expression  "mental  lethargy"  is  incompre- 
hensible to  him. 

4.  He  frees  himself  from  possible  shortcomings  in  his  character  by 
keeping  the  ideal  of  perfection  continually  before  his  mind's  eye.     He 
no  longer  finds  difficulty  in  handling  men  and  in  treating  his  co-workers 
and  chiefs  aright;  he  has  a  sincere  sympathy  for  them,  tries  to  help 
them,  and  to  make  their  work  more  pleasant  and  efficient. 

5.  He  is  full  of  enthusiasm,  for  he  is  aware  of  the  infinite  import- 
ance of  his  life  and  work.     His  work  is  infinite  as  is  Life  itself;  and 
each  problem  solved  brings  with  it  a  higher  and  more  important  problem, 
brings  more  truth  and  light  into  his  consciousness. 


CONCLUSION — (Credo). 

1.  Make  yourself  ready  for  a  broader  and  higher  field  of  activity; 
then  your  opportunity  will  surely  come. 

2.  The  true  purpose  and  value  of  engineering  activity  lie  in  provid- 
ing better  and  easier  ways  for  satisfying  ordinary  human  needs.     This 
provides  more  leisure  and  opens  new  possibilities  for  a  higher  spiritual 
and  intellectual  development  of  humanity. 

3.  The   engineer's   personal   satisfaction   consists   in   knowing  ttfis 
high  purpose  of  his  vocation,  and  in  giving  his  service  at  a  maximum 
efficiency.     The  other  compensation  is  a  result  and  not  the  purpose. 

FINIS. 


INDEX 


PAGE 


Ability.   .   . 80 

Ability,  Administrative. 445 

Ability,  Business 445 

Ability,    Demand    for 445 

Ability,  Executive 445 

Ability   of    Instructors 77 

Abstract  papers 363 

Academic  degrees   for  engineers...  389 

Academic   tendencies 301 

Accounting 92,  114,  185 

Accounts.  , 334,  365 

Accounts,  Settling 472 

Accuracy 28,  29,    46 

311,  384,  385,  386,  427,  446,  455 

Acknowledging  mistakes.  .   367 

Acquaintance.  .  .   367,  420 

Acquirement 307 

Acquisition 211 

Activites,  College 21 

Activities,   Outside 15 

Activities,  Social 45 

Activities  (Student),  Importance  of  138 
Activity,    Purpose   of    engineering. .  479 

Adaptability 274 

Address - 399 

Administration 193,  194 

346,  347,  447 
Administration,   Defects  due  to....  249 

Administrative  ability 445 

Administrators,   Engineers   as 384 

Administrators,    Rewards    of 348 

Advancement - 311,426 

Advertising 441 

Advice.  .  . 357,  420,  473 

Advice,  Resenting 84 

Advice  to  freshmen. 5,      7 

Advice  to   students 33 

Aesthetics 275,  276,  387 

Affairs 376 

Age  of  the  engineer 295 

Agreeability 370 

Aiding  contractors 369 

Aim  in  life 26 

Air.   .   .    - 19 

Alacrity. 200 

Alcoholic  beverages 235 

Allied  industries 192 

Allied  subjects 86 

Almighty  dollar 368,456 

Ambiguity     64 

Ambition 166,  203,  316,  353,  477 

American    Institute    of    Consulting 
Engineers 282 


PAGE 
American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers  365 

Amusements 436 

Analysis   (Self) 306,405 

Anger 479 

Animal    Spirits.    .    39 

Antiquated  books 93 

Apathy ..479 

Application.  .  . 311,  384,  385 

Application  of  principles 47 

Application  of  theory  to  practice..  457 

Application,    Practical 241 

Applied   mechanics 262 

Applied,   sciences. 257,258 

Appreciation 478 

Apprenticeship 84,  361,  423 

Apprenticeship  courses 274 

Arbitrator,    Engineer    as 369 

Architecture 465 

Arrangement,  Logical 51 

Art.   158,  351,  352 

Artistic  possibilities 275 

Artistic  taste 137 

Assimilation 304,  307 

Assimilation   of   information 212 

Assistance,  Giving 367 

Assistance,  Requesting 367 

Assistance  to  students 246 

Astronomy.  .  .    264 

Athletics 235 

Athletic  sports 39 

Authorship 433 

Awarding  contracts 370 


B 


Babcock,  Maltie  D.   . 201 

Bad  construction 78 

Bad  English.   65 

Bad  grammar. 56,    62 

Bad  specifications -. 64 

Baker,  Dr.  Ira  0 141 

Baker,    Sir    Benjamin 211,213 

Banking 92 

Bates,  Onward 149 

Bearing 399 

Beauty.  .  .   vv/..; 388 

Benefits  of  civilization 341 

Benjamin,   Chas.   H 437 

Bessemer,   Sir  Henry 168 

Biographies,  Reading  of 91 

Biography. 33,  351 

Biologist,  Functions  of 259 

Biology 264 

Bluntness.    .   433 


482 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Book-keeping 1 14 

Books,  Antiquated 93 

Books,  Catalogues  of 88 

Books,    Criticisms    of 93 

Books,    Expense    of 92 

Books,  Ideal 102,  103 

Books,    Kinds    of 101,  102 

Books,  Marketing  of . 103 

Books,   New  editions  of 104 

Books    on    English 66,    67 

Books,   Padding  of 103 

Books,  Publishing 103 

Books,    Purchasing    of ..  .85,  87,  88,  442 

Books,    Quality   of 101,  102 

Books,    Reading 475 

Books,   Reviews   of 93,  103,  104 

Books,    Selection    of 103 

Books,    Selling  of 87 

Books,  Supplementary 85 

Books,    Value    of....- ."....     94 

Books,   Worthless 102,  442 

Books   Writing    of 363,  364 

Booze. 337 

Botanist,    Functions    of 259 

Botany .265 

Brains.  .  . 238,  415 

Breadth 47,  155,  156 

199,  200,  338,  458 

Breadth  of  view 45,  226 

Breeding 61,    62 

Brevity 306 

Bridge  companies 425 

Bridge  design 465 

Brilliancy 311 

Broad  education 332 

Broadening 224 

Broadening  oneself 33 

Broadness.    .  ' 77,  155,  156 

166,  200,  458,  479 

Bureau   of   Corporations 298 

Bureau  of  Mines 297 

Burr,  Wm.  H 189 

Business. 463 

Business   ability 445 

Business    correspondence 58,    62 

Business,    engineers    in 223 

Business  instruction 184,'  185 

Business,    knowledge    of . .  .>. 476 

Business  man,  engineer  as  a 32,    33 

Business  methods.  .  .    '365 

Business  studies 114 

Business    systems 476 

Business  training. Ill,  113,  114 


Canals 466 

Candor 166 

Can't.^  .  .  *. 59 

Capacity 445 

Capital    and    labor 186 

Capitalization.    .    .    456 


PAGE 

Card  index 20,  441 

Care 47 

Career,  professional 79 

Cashing   up 471 

Casuistry 387 

Catalogues.   88 

Cataloguing 414 

Cessation  of  study  of  theory 77 

Chances   in    construction 261 

Changes   in   drawings 127 

Character 18,   199,  378 

Character,  defects  of 166 

Characteristics    of    engineers 222 

Character,  training  of  the 477 

Cheating 18,     19,    77 

Checking 366,  427,  456 

Cheerfulness.  .  .    306,323,328 

Chemist,    functions    of -. . . .  259 

Chemistry 78,  263 

Chemistry,    importance    of 47 

Chivalry 20,    21 

Choice  of  work 361 

Cities,    concentration    in 381,  382 

Citizenship 20,  32,  45,  158,  225 

291,  293,  295,  298,  338,  351,  407 

City  engineering 425 

City,  students  from  the 13 

Civic  positions.   .    425 

Civil   engineering  education 453 

Civil  engineering,  definition  of 255 

Civil   engineering,   future   of 270 

Civil    engineering,    limitations    of..  256 

Civil   engineering,  scope  of 2 

Civilizaton.   352 

Civilization,  benefits   of 341 

Civil    service    rules 417 

Clannishness 33 

Classical  training 313 

Classmates 401,  402 

Class   officers 21 

Clearness 217,  333,  363,  385 

Clearness   of  thought 304 

Clergy. 422 

Cleverness 311 

Coaching 240 

Code  of  ethics.  .  . 286 

College  discipline 183 

College  education.   .   .    7 

Collegiate    education,    preliminary..     73 

Commencement.    .    .    311 

Commercialism ..113,  114,  332 

Commercialism   in   college. .....  186,  187 

Commercial  law 185 

Committees    (special) 269 

Compensation 79,199,281 

282,  286,  360,  424,  478 

Compensation,   teacher's 215 

Competency.   . 304 

Complaints 400,  452 

Complete  living 351 

Complexity.    .    ; 303 

Composition 57 

Concentration.  .   ..19,  303,  304,  311,  326 


INDEX,  483 


PAGE 

Concentration  in  cities 381,382 

Concert,  pitch.  440 

Cooley,  M.  E 403 

Co-ordination   in   teaching 248,249 

Conciseness 306,  335,  363 

Conclusions    quickness    in 348 

Conditions   before   and  after  grad- 
uation contrasted 84 

Conditions  of  life 324 

Conference 278 

Congestion   of  population 447 

Congestion   of    traffic 447 

Congresses 266 

Conservation.  .  . 445 

Consideration 328,  477 

Consistency 328 

Constant,  Frank  H.  .   219 

Construction,  Bad 78 

Construction,  chances  in 261 

Constructive   imagination 181 

Consulting    engineers,    requirements 

for.  .  .  71 

Contemplation 303 

Content 40 

Contentiousness 306 

Continuing     study     after     gradua- 
tion  73,  75,  375,  428 

Contractors,  Aiding 369 

Contractors,   oppressing.    .    ..'......   369 

Contracts.    .    63,64,92,364,464 

Contracts,  awarding 370 

Contracts,    Law    of. : .   115 

Conveniences.  .  .    294 

Conventionalities 328 

Corporations. 171,  194 

Corporate  power.  .  .   , . ..   171 

Corporations,   bureau    of 298 

Corporations,    public    service 297 

Correctness 311,455 

Correspondence 58,    62 

Cost 456 

Cost,  estimates 185 

Cost,  knowledge  of :'. .   170 

Counter  checking 366,  456 

Courage 81,   164,   166,  234,  328 

Courses,    importance    of 146 

Courses,  unprofitable 246 

Courtesy ' 20,  21,  377 

Court   of   last   appeal 285 

Credit : 298 

Credit  due  engineers. 341,  342 

Credit  to  engineers. .- 293,  294 

Crippled   squad 12 

Crises   of   life........ 41 

Criticism. 377 

Criticism  of^  engineering  education .  231 

Critics,  carping 283 

Croes,   Dr.  J.  James  R... 1 

Crookedness.   .  ^ 409 

Cultural  education .29,     34 

Cultural  knowledge 27 

Cultural  studies.  .  .   : 275 

Cultural  training 144 

Cultured  education 26 


PAGE 

Culture.... 52,  95,  179,  180,  181,  200,  226 
227,  311,  338,  440 

Culture  (defined).  . 136 

Culture,    lack    of 73 

Culture  studies 178,  386 


D 


Dams.  .  . 465 

Dangers 360 

Daring 212,  213 

Dean,   function  of 11 

Debate 453 

Debts,  paying 471 

Decision.   .   .    336 

Decisions,   legal 365 

Defects 242 

Defects  due  to  administration 249 

Defects  due  to  parents , 241 

Defects  in  instruction 241,  242 

Defects  in  students 238 

Defects  of  character 166 

Deficiencies 478 

Deficiencies  in  engineers'  knowledge    33 

Deficiencies  in  young  engineers 454 

Definitions  of  engineering 445 

Degeneration 303 

Degrees ' 435,462 

Demand  for  ability 445 

Demand    for   highly   trained   engin- 
eers  446 

Depreciation 114,  186 

Descriptive  literature. 107 

Designing.  462 

Designing,    economy   in 435 

Designing,  importance  of 47 

Destructiveness 445 

Development 45 

Development,  mental 143 

Development  of  engineering  educa- 
tion. .  .  ,  232 

Development,  urban 382 

Devotion 172,  213 

Diary 366,  432 

Dictating.  .  . 185 

Dictation.  .  .  ..... 463 

Diction .58,  78,  306 

Diction,  elegance  of : 363 

Diction,  faults  of 59 

Difficulties 213,  315,  397,  420 

Difficulties,  post  graduate . .     83 

Diffusion.  .  .  , 326 

Dignity -. .  .393,  477 

Dilemmas 305 

Diligence :304,  315 

Diploma. 399 

Diplomacy 399 

Directing 322 

Direction 277,    278,  336 

Directness   of   purpose 304 

Director.  .  . 461 

Directors,  engineers  as 223 


484 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Disappointments 315,  401 

Discernment.  .  .    - 261,327 

Discipline 240 

Discipline  in  college 183 

Discipline,  physical -.  234 

Discipline  (self) 250 

Discomforts 360 

Discontent 306 

Discouragement. 3,  4,  367 

Discoveries 441 

Discriminaton 156 

Dishonesty 30,  200,  236 

Dishonor 40 

Disorder 19 

Distinction 426 

Distinctions 435 

Diversion 385 

Divisions  of  enginering 215 

Doctors 422 

Dollar,  almighty 368,  456 

Drafting 360,  424,  425,  427,  456,  457 

Draper   Andrew    S 247,  249 

Drawings 126,  127 

Drawings,  changes  in 127 

Drawings,  contents  of.. 457 

Drawings,  deficiencies  in 128 

Drill 16 

Drink.' 235 

Drinking 17,  201,337 

Drudgery.   .   ,    428 

Drunkenness 39,  342 

Duties   of    engineers 195 

Duty. 171,  378 


Earnestness    of   purpose 366,426 

Eating 16 

Economics...  170,  217,  266,  456,  464,  476 

Economics   (defined) 258 

Economists 447 

Economy.  .^ ' 333 

Economy    in    designing 435 

Economy  political 462 

Education.   135,  265 

Education,  broad 332 

Education,  college 7 

Education,  cultured. 26 

Education,  definition  of 25 

Education;   elements   of 143 

Education,  engineering 448 

Education,  extent  of 94,    95 

Education,  general 147 

Education,  ideal 321 

Education,  liberal 144,  301,  302 

Education,  mental.  236 

Education,  moral 234,  235 

Education,  necessity   for 72 

Education,  objects  of 45,  242,  273 


PAGE 

Education,  practical 146,439 

Education,    preliminary    collegate...     73 

Education,   specialization  in 389 

Education,  technical 175 

Education    (technical),    improvement 

in. 267 

Education,  utilitarian 26 

Effectiveness 303,  312,  316,  325 

Effective  work 243 

Efficiency 237 

Egypt 210,  211 

Electrical  engineering 466 

Electrical  engineering,  limitations  of  256 
Electrical  engineering,  scope  of...  3 
Electrical  engineers,  training  of. 271,  273 

Electricity 163 

Elegance    of    diction 58,  363 

Eliot,  Dr.  Chas.  W 37 

Emergencies 385 

Emergency  work - 169 

Emotional  side   of   university  life..   136 

Emotions 137 

Endowment 467 

Endurance - 7 

Energy 72,  200 

Energy,   sources  of 445 

Engineer,  age  of  the 295 

Engineer   as   a  citizen 32 

Engineer   as   administrator 3?4 

Engineer    as    arbitrator * 369 

Engineer  as  peacemaker 342 

Engineer,  definition  of 167 

Engineer,  evolution  of 260 

Engineer,    executive 195,  196 

Engineer,    function    of 260 

Engineer   in   light  literature. ..  .422,  423 

Engineer,  profession  of 1 

Engineer,    work    of 168 

Engineering  activity,  purpose  of...  479 
Engineering  as  a  profession. ..  .26,  257 
Engineering1,  definition  of...l,  168,445 

Engineering  differentiation  of 106 

Engineering,   divisions   of 215 

Engineering  education 43,  45,  448 

Engineering  education,  criticism  of.  231 
Engineering  education,  development 

of 232 

Engineering  education,  extent  of.. 94,  95 
Engineering  education,  necessity  for  72 
Engineering  education,  progress  in.  452 
Engineering  education,  privilege  of.  8 

Engineering  ethics 281,  369 

Engineering,  field  of.... 95,  96,  169,  194 

Engineering,    history    of 463 

Engineering   literature 267,   287,461 

Engineering  literature,  extent  of...   100 

Engineering   News 108 

Engineering  periodicals 47,  20Q 

Engineering  periodicals,   subscribing 

for 90 

Engineering,  practical 302 

Engineering   profession 21,    158,  191 

Engineering  profession,  age  of...-  281 
Engineering  profession,  grandeur  of  3 


INDEX. 


485 


PAGE 
Engineering    profession,    importance 

of 381 

Engineering    profession,    limitations 

of.  .  .    27 

Engineering  profession,   respect    for 

281 

Engineering    profession,     status     of 

279,  281 

Engineering  science,  limitations  of.   259 

Engineering,    science    of 191 

Engineering,  scope  of 1 

Engineering   societies.    . 47,200 

Engineering,  teaching  of 358 

Engineering   training    function   of..   192 

Engineering   work,   nobility   of 221 

Engineers  as  directors 223 

Engineers,   characteristics   of 222 

Engineers,   credit   due -341,342 

Engineers,  duties  of 195 

Engineers  in  business 223 

Engineers,    number    of 193 

Engineers,  protection   of -..   281 

Engineers,  qualifications  of.  195,  209,  210 

Engineers'  society 21 

Engineers,  work  of 281 

England,  technical   education   in....  423 

English..  149,  152,  184,  185,  216,  217,  376 

429,   454,  455 

English,  bad 53 

English,    books    on 63,    67 

English,    faults    in 56 

English,   Importance   of 115 

English,  methods  of  acquiring  good.     55 

English,  study  of 78 

English,  teaching  of 115 

English,   value   of 49,    51 

Enjoyment 39 

Entering  requirements.  . 459 

Enterprise 164 

Enthusiasm 478,  479 

Entrance  requirements 55 

Environment •  •  •   307 

Epitomizing • 366 

Epochs,   ethnical 161,  164 

Errors. 46,401 

Errors  in  writing 58 

Errors  of  speech 

"Essentials   and   non-essentials.  .  .304,  393 

Essentials   for   success 95 

Estimates 1°5 

Estimates    of    cost - 456 

Ethics 2<$9,  281,  282,  283,  369,  434 

Ethics  Code  of  286 

Ethical  epochs.  .   .    161,  164 

Evolution   of  the   engineer 260 

Evolution,  organic 307 

Executive   ability •  445 

Executive   engineer 195,  196 

Executive  positions   for  engineers..    193 

Exercise J6 

Exercise,  bodilv t 1 

Exercise,  physical.  .  .    45,  440 

Exertion   (self) 250 


PAGE 

Existence,    struggle    for 324,401 

Expedients 214 

Experience 31,224,425 

Experience,  personal.  .  .    206 

Experience,  varied "...  206,  361 

Experimenting 433 

Experiments 30 

Expert  testimony 335 

Expression.  .  .  .   305,  327 

Expression,   facility  of 386 

Extra   scholastic   work 85 

Extra  studies 144,  145 

Extra  study 440 


Facetiousness 66 

Facility  of  expression 386 

Facts 441 

Faculty 11,     12,  332. 

Failure 80,  354,  367,  401,  406 

Fairness.  .  .    336 

Fathfulness 315 

Falsehood 433 

Fame.    . 71 

Farms 382 

Farm,   student   from   the.-- 13 

Fault  finding 400 

False  pride 81 

Falsifying  records 30 

Faults    in    English 56 

Faults    in   diction 59 

Fear 479 

Fidelity 315 

Field  books 123 

Field  notes.  .  . 123,  124 

Field   of    engineering 169,  194 

Fi  ;td  of  the  engineer 95,    96 

Field  notes,  brevity  in 124 

Field  notes,  thoroughness  of 124 

Fighters.   .   '. 341 

Fighting 314 

Filing 20 

Final  records 128,  129 

Finance 92 

Finesse 13 

Finishing    one's    work 407,  408 

Fink,  Albert 446 

Firmness 336,  441 

Firth  of  Forth  bridge - 211 

Five-year  courses 73,  276,  453 

Fluency 363 

Food 16 

Foreign   engineers 286 

Foreign  languages 28,  78,  184 

Foresight 327 

Forgetting.    .    .    81 

Fossilization 362 

Four-year  courses  too  short 277 

France,    engineering    in 423 

Fraternities 20 

French -- 429 


486 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Freshmen,   advice    to 5,       7 

Friends 20 

Friendships ....20,    45 

Function    of    engineering   training. .    192 

Fundamentals.    216 

Fundamental   principles 218,  274 

Future  of  civil  engineering 270 


Gambling 17 

General   education 147 

General   studies 331 

General  technical   knowledge 459 

Generosity 40,  377,  477 

Genius 167 

Geodesy. .• 465 

Geography 264 

Geological   science 269 

Geologist,   function   of 259 

Geology 263,  465 

German 429 

Gestures    (to  supplement  language)     60 

Gluttony 39 

Goal  for  attainment 285,  440 

Golden  rule '. 377,  369 

Good   fellowship 479 

Goodness 200 

Good  usage 60 

Government  positions 425 

Government  publications. 99 

Grace 311 

Graduate  courses 445 

Graduates,   positions    for 233 

Graduate   study 437,439,441 

Graduation,    meaning   of 100 

Graduation,  necessity  for 72,  423 

Grammar 56,     57 

Grammar,  bad 56,    62 

Grandeur    of    the    engineering    pro- 
fession        3 

Graphics. 464 

Greatness.  .  .    167 


H 


Hammond,  John  Hays 210 

Handicaps 397 

Hand  writing 120 

Happiness 40 

Harbors 466 

Hardships    423 

Hard   work - 39,    85 

Harmony 479 

Hayford,  John  F 339 

Health 14,  39,  71 

Hereditary  nobility 294 

Higher  education.   . 449,  451 

Higher   mathematics /.  .262,  263 

High  school 9 


PAGE 

High  standard 46 

Highway  engineering 466 

Hints  to  students 141,  143 

History 33,217,351,476 

History   of    engineering 463 

Holidays 370 

Honesty 18,  81,  197,  199,  214,  215 

Honesty 222,  354,  446,  477 

Honor 40,  377,  387 

Howe,  Chas.  Sumner. 411 

How    to    study 243 

Hudson   River  tunnel 213 

Human    field -. 397 

Human    interests 32 

Humanistic  knowledge 33 

Human  nature 336 

Humanities 226 

Humphreys,  Dr.  A.  C Ill 

Huxley's  definition  of  liberal  educa- 
tion.     35 


I 


Ideals 426,  479 

Ideas 305 

Idleness 421 

Idling 432 

Imagination 166,  351,  352 

Imagination,  constructive.   181 

Impatience 236 

Importance    of    chemistry 47 

Importance  of  correct  language....     61 

Importance    of    courses 146 

Importance    of    designing 47 

Importance      of     engineering     pro- 
fession  381 

Importance    of   mathematics 47 

Importance    of    physics 4? 

Importance   of    technical    writings. .     63 

Importance  of  vocations 176 

Impression 322 

Improvement -- 307 

Improvement  in  morals 342 

Improvement  in  technical  education  267 

Improvement    of    waterways 446 

Inaccuracy.  .  .  . . '. 385 

Incentives 205 

Incompetence 25 

Increasing    requirements    in    educa- 
tion      73 

Increasing   working  time 460 

Indexes 108,  366,  441 

Indexing 93 

Indices ....366,  441 

Individuality.   135,  328 

Individual    students,   study   of 447 

Industrialism 209 

Industries   allied  to   engineering. . . .   192 

Industry 46,  80,  384 

Influence 337 

Information.   .  ' 440 

Information,    acquisition    of 143 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Information,    assimilation    of 212 

Initiative.   . 72,  445 

Inspiration 228 

Institution    of   civil    engineers 423 

Instruction,    defects    in 241,242 

Instruction,   writing 63 

Instructors,    ability    of 77 

Integrity.    .    ..72,315,377,384,387,433 

Intellectual   development 302 

Intellectual    labor 40 

Intelligence 71 

Interdependence       of       engineering 

branches.    256,  257 

Interdependence    of    specialties 458 

Interests,    variety    of 370 

Intoxicants 235 

Intrepidity 213 

Intuitions 305 

Invective 66 

Inventing 476 

Invention.   .   .    34,  334 

Inventors 34 

Investigation 441,  476 

Investigation,   original 461 


Jackson,   Dugald   C 349 

Jealousies.    .    . 367 

Jealousy 479 

Johnson,  Prof.  J.  B 23 

Joining  societies 365 

Jordan,    David    Starr 303 

Journals 414 

Judgment   ...    . . .  .40,  155,  311,  336,  338 

Judgment,  commercial. 333 

Judgment,  passing 377 

Judiciousness 156,  157 

Jurisprudence 265 

Justice 18,  19,  387 


Karapetoff,   Vladimir 469473 

Kennedy,  Dr.  Julian 329 

Kerr,    Walter    C 299 

Killing   time 432 

Kindliness 18,  20 

Kirby,    Edmund   B 395 

Knighthood 228 

Knowledge - 313 

Knowledge    and    action 309,311 

Knowledge,  cultural 27 

Knowledge,   essential. 95 

Knowledge,    extent    of 95 

Knowledge,    general    technical 459 

Knowledge,    humanistic 33 

Knowledge,    love    of 226 

Knowledge    of    an    engineer 27 

Knowledge    of    business 476 

Knowledge,   organized 344 

Knowledge,    professional 475 


Knowledge,    purpose    of 
Knowledge,    special.    .    . . 


487 

PAGE 
.  303 
.  440 


Labor  and  capital 186 

Laboratory  courses 278 

Laboratory  testings 461 

Labor,  intellectual.   40 

Labor,  management  of 296 

Labor  organizations 296 

Lack  of  culture 73 

Languages 15 

Language 152,  153,  346,  399 

Language,    definition    of 51 

Language,   foreign 28,  78,  184,  429 

Language,    importance    of 61 

Languages,   modern.    .    .    184 

Languages,  ordinary 54 

Language    poverty    of 58 

Language,  technique  of 78 

Language,    value    of 51,     52 

Latin,    American    Republics 286 

Law 81,  463 

Law  and  engineering  compared 170 

Law,  commercial 185 

Law  of   contracts 115,  185 

Laws 92 

Law-suits,    causes    of 64 

Lawyers 82,83,422 

Laziness.    200 

Leaders 413 

Leadership.   .   .    ..170,  171,  323,  447,  448 
Learned   profession,    definition   of..     26 

Learning 327 

Lectures 243 

Lectures,    reading    of 91 

Lecture   system -...242,243,251 

Legal    decisions.    .    .    365 

Legal  profession.   .   422 

Legibility 120,  121 

Legislation. N 286 

Leisure 351 

Leisure  time 85 

Lethargy,  mental.   .   479 

Letters    of    application 125 

Letter    writing ...124,125,130 

149,  151,  399 

Letter    writing,    art    of 62 

Lewis,    Nelson    Peter 379 

Liberal  education 144,  301,  302,  313 

Liberal   education,   definition   of....     35 
Liberal    education    for   engineers. . .    191 

Liberality    in    work 377 

Library,    beginning    of 86 

Libraries,   individual .....69,     71 

Library,  nucleus  of 87 

Libraries,   private 442 

Libraries,   public 92 

Library   reading 441 

Library   reference.   91 

Licentiousness 39 


488 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Life,    crises    of - ....     41 

Life,   conditions   of 324 

Life,    Theory    of 478 

Light. 19 

Light  Literature 429 

Light    literature,  .  engineer    in.  .422,  423 

Limitations 477 

Limitations  of  the  engineering  pro- 
fession      27 

Limitations  of  technical  courses--75,     76 
Limits   of   technical    school   training    83 

Literature 158,  287 

351,  352,  363,  390 

Literature,   descriptive.   .   .    107 

Literature,   engineering 267,  461 

Lterature    (engineering)    extent    of 

100,  101 

Literature,   general 33 

Literature,   light.   429 

Literature,   technical. 364,  452 

Literature,   theoretical 107 

Literature,   valueless 107 

Litigation,  cause  of 333 

Living  complete 351 

Locke 242,  244 

Logic 243,  244,  245,  251 

Logical  thinking 242 

Loose    sheet    records 122 

Love  of  knowledge.    .   226 

Loyalty.   .   .    390,  409 


M 


Macaulay 293 

Magazines --  90 

Magazine,   English .53,  54 

Magazines,   technical 414 

Malaria.   .    .    269 

Management 92 

Management  of  labor 296 

Management    of    men 365 

Manufacturing 194 

Manufacturing   companies 425 

Marriage 435 

Marrying.    --  368 

Mastery 445 

Mathematical  papers 363 

Mathematics 14,  15 

165,  217,  262,  430,  431,  462 

Mathematics,   higher 262,263 

Mathematics,    importance    of 47 

Marticulation   requirements 55 

Matrimony 368 

McGiir  University.   .  . 453 

Measurements   of    precision 465 

Mechanical   engineering.   .  _.    . . . . .  . .  466 

Mechanical    engineering    limitations 

of :.  256 

Mechanical   engineering,   scope   of..  3 

Mechanics,   applied 262 

Medical    profession 422 

Melville,  Admiral  Geo.  W 291 


PAGE 

Memorizing.    .    .    274 

Memory 28 

Men,    management    of 365 

Men,    study    of 223,  476 

Mental   development 28,  143 

Mental    education 236 

Mental  lethargy 479 

Mental   training 39,46,234 

Metallurgy.    .    . 465 

Military  profession 422 

Military   training 239 

Minerology.    .   264,465 

Mines,   Bureau   of 297 

Mining 398 

Mining   engineering 402 

Mining    engineering,    limitations    of  256 
Mining  engineering,   scope   of.!....       3 

Mischief 20 

Mistakes 46,  366,  367,  390 

Mixing.   .-. 45,  371 

Modern   languages 184 

Modesty 441 

Molitor   and    Beard's    Manual 124 

Money 406,  456 

Money    (spending) 240 

Money  values.   -..  365 

Monopolies 296 

Moore,    John    Trotwood 410 

Moral    development 250,  234 

Moral  education.  .   .    235 

Morality 201 

Morals -  170 

Morals,    improvement   in 342 

Morison,    Geo.    Shattuck 161 

Mothers-in-law 332 

Motives 316,  378,  477 

Moving  on 316 

Mill,  John  Stuart 440 

Municipal    public    works 195 

Municipal    service 417 

Music 351,  352 


N 


Narrowness     81,153,154 

155,  156,  222,  441 

Narrowness    of    engineering    educa- 
tion      32 

National   problems 446 

Natural  sciences 165 

Navy   yard    organization 297 

Neatness.   .  .    : 455 

Neatness,    value    of 131 

Necessity 240,  241 

Neglecting    to    study 80 

Nerve.    . 315 

Newspapers.    363 

Newspaper  English 53 

Niggardliness 369 

Nobility,   heredity ; 294 

Nobility    of    engineering 228 

Nobility  of  engineering  work 221 

Noble,  Alfred 19 


INDEX. 


489 


PAGE 

Note-books.    .    .    .    . .' 432 

Note-book  habit.  ' 366 

Note-book  records 122 

Notes 366,  475 

Number  of  engineers 193 


o 


Object 378 

Objects  of  education 45,  242 

Object,  ultimate. 370 

Obligations 8,     10 

Observation,    quickness    of 335 

Opinions.    393 

Opportunists 387 

Opportunities 302,  317,  400 

Opportunities  for  engineers.  .31,  34,  381 

Opportunity 240,477 

Oppressing  contractors 369 

Oppression.  .  .  . .  - 341 

Optimism 306 

Oratory 57,  463 

Order 20 

Ordinary  language 54 

Organic  evolution 307 

Organized  knowledge. 344 

Organization 81,  346 

Organization  of  university 10 

Original  investigation 461 

Originality 211,  212 

Ortography,    errors    in 56 

Orthoepy, '  errors    in 51 

Out-of-door  life 359 

Outside  activities.  . 15 

Outside  work 248,  475 

Outlook,  broad. 166 

Overtime 427 


Padding 103,  364 

Panama  canal 269,  270 

Papers,  abstract --  363 

Papers,  topics   for 287,  288,  289 

Papers,    writing    of 363 

Parents,    defects'  due    to. 241 

Parks 383 

Parsimonv. 369 

Passing  Judgment 377 

Patenting 34 

.  Patience 354,  377 

Patriotism 226 

Paying  debts. 471 

Peacemaker,  engineer  as 342 

Pedagogics 246,  247 

Pedantry 59 

Perception.   .  .   314 

Perfection 315 

Periodicals 200,  363 

Periodicals,  engineering  .  .   47 

Periodical  literature 54 


PAGE 

Periodicals,  preservation  of 108 

Periodicals,  reading 475 

Periods  in  engineering  career 343 

Persistence 7 

Personal  experience 206 

Personality   of  teachers 154 

Petrology 263 

Philosophy.   .   476 

Physical  condition 16 

Physical  discipline 234 

Physical  exercise 45,  440 

Physical  training 234,  235,  250 

Physicist,  functions  of 259 

Physics.  .  .   .'. 165,  217,  263 

Physics,  importance  of. 47 

Physiology 235,  250 

Piers.  .  .  .- ' 383 

Planning  studies 82 

Plans 127 

Plans,  deficiencies  in 128 

Pleasures,  social    370 

Pluck. ' 7 

Plunder 338 

Poesy 66 

Point  of  view 299,  301 

Poise 14 

Polemics 387 

Policy.  .  . 433 

Polish 14 

Politeness 477 

Political  economy 265,  289,  447,  462 

Political   economy    (defined) 258 

Political  matters 376 

Political  positions % 425 

Political  science ". . . .  352 

Politics. 158,  225,  417,  446 

Population,   conjestion   of.. 447 

Position 71 

Positions 358 

Positions,  executive 193 

Positions   for  engineers..- 31 

Positions  for  graduates 233 

Position    in    government 425 

Positions  occupied  by  engineers 178 

Positions,  subordinate 426 

Possibilities ; ,- 337 

Post-graduate  courses.  .  .    445 

Post-graduate  difficulties 83 

Post-graduate  school.  .  . 449 

Post-graduate  school  of  engineering 

267,  268,  460 

Post-graduate   study 83,   184,  224 

430,  447 

Poverty  of  language 58,  59 

Power 314,  325 

Power,  manufacture  of. ...  161,  162,  163 

Power,  transmission. 466 

Practical  application.   .   . 241 

Practical  bearing 221 

Practical  education 146,  439 

Practical  engineer. 149,  151 

Practical  engineering 302 

Practical  in  technical  courses 76 

Practice  versus  theory 182 


49U 


1ADEX. 


PASE 

Pranks 20 

Precedent. 433 

Precision 385 

Precision,  measurements  of.. 465 

Preliminary  collegiate  education 73 

Prescribed  course 144 

Prescribed  work 85 

Preservation   of  periodicals 108,  109 

President 461 

Prestige 8,    20 

Press,  technical 97,     99 

Pride,  false. 81 

Principles 328,  476 

Principles,    application   of 47 

Principles,    fundamental 218,  274 

Principles,  study  of 326 

Privilege  of  engineering  education  8,      9 

Privileges,  special 9 

Probity.  .  .   .. 19 

Problems,  national.  . 446 

Problems  of   transportation 447 

Professional  career 79 

Professional  knowledge 475 

Professional  spirit. .- 171 

Profession,    engineering   as   a 26 

Profession,  learned 26 

Profession  of   engineer 1,  21,  381 

389,  422,  423 

Profession  of  engineering 158,  191 

Profundity 311 

Progress 35,  316 

Progress  in   engineering   education.  452 

Progress,  world 467 

Promises 434 

Promptness.  .  . 342 

Protection   of    engineers 281,  282 

Prout,  Col.  H.  G 159 

Provincialism 20 

Public   libraries,   using 92 

Public  service. . .  276 

Public  service  corporations 297 

Public  work 417,  295 

Public   works,   municipal 195 

Punctuation.  .  . 62,    78 

Purchasing 332,  333 

Purchasing  books 85,  87,  442 

Pure  sciences 257,  258 

Pure  science,  field  of 258,  259 

Pure   science,    function   of 259 

Purpose 478 

Purpose,    directness   of 304,366 

Purpose,  earnestness  of 426 

Purpose  of  engineering  activity 479 

Purpose  of  knowledge 303 

Purpose   of   language 57 

Purpose,   singleness  of 303 


Qualifications 284,  285 

lualifications  for  success 71 

Qualifications  of  an  engineer ...  209,  210 


PAGI-: 

Qualifications  of  engineers 195 

Qualitative  knowledge 29 

Qualities    in    engineers 211 

Quaternions 263 

Buickness.  342 
uickness  in  conclusions 348 

Quickness  of  observation 335 

Quiet.  19 

Quizzing 242 


Railroad  companies 425 

Railroading 359,  464 

Railways.  .  381 

Rankine. 181,  182 

Rationalizing 305 

Readiness 200 

Reading 58,  78,  414,  428 

Reading  books 475 

Reading,  library.   .   441 

Reading,   non-technical 89 

Reading  periodicals 475 

Reading,   planning  of . .     90 

Reading,  repetition  in 94 

Reading,  technical 362 

Reading    (technical),  extent  of.  106,  107 

Reading  technical  journals 86 

Reading  technical  literature 87 

Reasoning 243 

Recommendations 367,  368 

Recognition.   .   .    393 

Recording 366 

Records 117,  119 

Records   by   drawing 126 

Records,  final 128,  129 

Records,  general  explanations 123 

Records  in  note-books 122 

Records,    neatness    in 131 

Records,    objects    of 120 

Records  of  completed  constructions 

128,  129 

Records  on  loose  sheets 122 

Records,   permanency   of 123 

Records,   truthfulness  of 123 

Records,   varied   list   of 130 

Recreation. 158,  383,  385,  436 

Reference  books 85 

Reference  library 91 

Reforms 452 

Regular  course 144 

Relaxation ..436,    46 

Reliability 157,  337,  427 

Repetition   in   reading 94 

Reports 40,  63,  64,   124,   125,  334 

Repudiation 434,  409 

Reputation  through  writing 364 

Requesting  assistance 367 

Requirements 322 

Requirements    for  consulting  engin- 
eers      71 

Requirements    for   entrance 55,  459 


INDEX.  491 


PAGE 

Requisites    for   success 475 

Research 260,   287,    437,  439 

Resenting  advice.  .  84 

Resistance .' 315,  325 

Resources 337,  445 

Respect 41 

Respect  for  the  engineering  profes- 
sion  ,. 281 

Responsibilities.  .  .   8,  35,  393 

Responsibility 323 

Responsibility,  concentration  of. 249,  250 

Responsibility,   shirking  of..- 306 

Rest 439 

Restlessness 316 

Restrictions 417 

Results 46,  345 

Retaining  teachers ~ 248 

Reviewing  text  books 89,  475 

Reviews  of  books 93,  103,  104 

Revised  editions 104,  105 

Rewards 337 

Rewards    for    engineers 199 

Rhectoric 15,   57,    58 

Riggs,  M.  J 197 

River  improvement 466 

Rolling    stone 316,    203,206 

Roman   engineering   works 212 

Roundness 313 

Roughing  it 360 


Salary. 79,  224,  358 

Salary,   increasing   of 368 

Sanitary  engineering 466 

Satisfaction 46,    199,479 

Satisfactions ..37,  39 

Saving 434 

Saving  money 409 

Scattering 326 

Scholarships 453 

Scholastic   work,   true  value   of....  78 

Science.   .   177,  179 

Science,    fascination    of 397 

Science    of    engineering 191 

Sciences,    divisions    of 257 

Sciences,  natural -- . .  165 

Scientists.  177 

Scope    of    civil    engineering. . 2 

Scope   of   electrical    engineering. ...  3 

Scope    of    engineering 1 

Scope  of  mechanical  engineering...-  3 

Scope   of   mining   engineering 3 

Secondary   stresses 464 

Selecting  books 103,  104 

Self-analysis 306,405 

Self-control 13,  239 

Self-culture 238,  239 

Self-discipline 250 

Self-education 72 

Self-exertion 250 

Selfishness 302,  477 


PAGE 

Self-reliance 47,  357,  384,  386 

Self-respect.   407 

Self-training.    .    . 47 

Sense.   . 399 

Service.    26,  342 

Service,  municipal 417 

Settling  accounts 472 

Sewerage.    .    .    264 

Shenehon,    Francis    C 5 

Shirking  responsibility 306 

Shop  cost 185 

Shop-talk 32 

Short    comings 479 

Simplicity 58,  303 

Singleness  of  purpose 303 

Six-year    courses 55,    192,  276 

Skinning 18 

Slang 59 

Sleep 16 

Smith,  Hon.  Willard  A 443 

Smoking.   .   . 18,  201 

Social   activities 45 

Social  evil 17 

Social  pleasures -370,     62 

Social  sciences 257,  352 

Societies 441 

Societies,   engineering 47,200 

Societies,  joining 365 

Societies,  technical 91,432 

Society 226 

Society   for   the   Promotion   of    En- 
gineering Education 452 

Socrates,    teachings    of 242,  243 

Soldiering.   .  .    81 

Soldiers    and    engineers 169 

Sound,    study    of 217 

Sources  of  energy 445 

Spanish 429 

Speaking 463 

Special  privileges 9 

Specialization 47,  77,  94,  106,  155 

Specialization 178,   183,  215 

Specialization    in   education 200,389 

Specializing.   .   .    82,  361,426 

Specializing   (non) 306 

Special  knowledge 440 

Special  services 286 

Specialties  in  engineering 255 

Specialties,   interdependence  of 458 

Specifications 63,  64,  364,   435,464 

Specification,  bad 64 

Speech 62 

Speech,    errors    of 61 

Spelling 56,   149,  151 

Spending-money 240 

Sports. -  436 

Sports,  athletic 39 

Standard,  high. 46 

Standards 314 

Statistics 186 

Statistics,  instruction  in. 114 

Status    of    the    engineering    profesv 

son 279,  281 

Stephenson,  Robert 228 


492 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Straightness 420 

Strength 14,  325 

Strenuous  course 7 

Strikes 296,  324 

Struggle  for  existence 401 

Studies,    extent    of.. 94,    95 

Studies,  extra 144,  145 

Studies,    list   of 94,    95 

Study  after  graduation 69,  71,  375 

Study,  continued.  .    428,  429 

Study,  continuing 73,     75 

Study  extra 440 

Studies,  general 331 

Study,  graduate 441 

Study,    how    to 243 

Study  men 223,   339,  341,  476 

Study,  neglect  to 80 

Study  of  engineering 189,  191 

Study    of    English 78 

Study  of  individual  students 447 

343,  415 

Study  of  theory,  cessation  of 77 

Study,  post-graduate 224 

Study,  post-graduate 430,447 

Studying   to   pass 82 

Style i 57,  217,  363,  429 

Subordinate  positions.  .    426 

Subordinates 15 

Subscribing    for    periodicals 90 

Subways  217 

Success.  .    ...71,  157,  224,  225,  235,  240 
354,  387,  399,  405,  413,  419 

Success   (defined) 222 

Success,  essentials  for --    95 

Success,  qualifications  for 71 

Success,   requisites   for 475 

Summer  work 251 

Superficiality 47 

Supplementary  books 85 

Sureness    441 

Surveying 359,  424 

Survival   of  the  fittest --.   312 

Swain,    Dr.    Geo.    F 229,449 

Sympathy 338 

System 19,  20,  304,  326,  440 

Systematizing 370,  435 

Systematization.    82,  455 

System  in  records 121,  122 

System  in  writing 121 

Systems,  business 476 


Tact 336,  399,  433,  445 

Tactfulness 384,  386 

Talkers 393 

Talking 151,  152 

Talking  shop. 32 

Taste,  artistic 137 

Taylor,  F.  W 231 

Teachers,  incompetent 248 


PAGE 

Teachers,  personality   of..-- 154 

Teachers,  requirements  for 245 

Teachers,  retaining. 248 

Teachers,    scarcity   of 245 

Teachers,  unproductive 247 

Teaching. 135,  433 

Teaching,   coordination    in 248,249 

Teaching  engineering. . ; 358,  439 

Team-work 399 

Technical  courses,  limitations  of. 75,     76 

Technical    education 175 

Technical  education,  improvement  in  267 
Tehnical  education,  necessity  of. ...    157 

Technical  journals 47 

Technical   journals,   reading 86 

Technical   library,   beginning  of...-     86 

Technical   literature 364,  428,  452 

Technical   literature,    reading 87 

Technical    magazines 414 

Technical    paper   writing 62 

Technical   periodicals,   English   of..     54 

Technical  press.  .       97,     99 

Technical  press,  duty  of 100 

Technical  reading.  . ' 362 

Technical  school  training,  limits  of.     83 

Technical   societies 91,  432 

Technical   subjects 145 

Technical  training 261 

Technical   writing,    importance   of..     63 

Technique    of    language 78 

Temptations 187 

Terseness 217,  363 

Testimony,  expert 335 

Testing 466 

Testing  apparatus 287 

Testing  laboratory 461 

Text-books.  .   .    347 

Text-books,  reviewing 89,  475 

Text-books,  selling  of  old 87 

Text-book  system 242 

Theories , 441 

Theory  and  practice 30,  457 

Theory,  cessation  of  study  of 77 

Theory,    importance   of 89 

Theory  of  life 478 

Theory  versus  practice 182 

Thinking. , 354 

Thinking,  logical 242 

Thomson,  W.  H 238 

Thorough-breds ..12,     14 

Thoroughness.  .   17,  211,  212,  354 

Thought,    clearness    of 304 

Time,  leisure 89 

Time-servers 368,  414 

Time-serving.   .   .    427 

Time- wasting 89,  385 

Tobacco.   .   . 18,  235 

Traffic,  congestion  of 447 

Trade  publications.  .  . 99 

Trades 15 

Trade  school. 301 

Trades  schools 275 

Training 76,  384 

Train   of  electrical   engineers. .  .271,  273 


INDEX. 


493 


PAGE 

Training  of  the  character 477 

Training,    mental 39,   46,  234 

Training,  military 239 

Training,  physical 234,  235,  250 


261 
461 
466 
447 
428 
377 
1 


Training,  technical 

Translating 

Transmission  of  power.  . 
Transportation  problems. 

Trash,  technical 

Travel 

Tredgold.  .  . 

Treclgold's  definition  of  engineering.  168 

Tribunal. , 40 

Trusts.  .  .    296 

Truth 171,172,226,387,422 

Truth-seeking 30 

Trying.   316 

Tunneling 465 


u 


Ultimate  object.  .  

Underpay 

Unfitness  in  students 

University  education 

University  of  Nebraska 

University  organization 

Unpreparedness.   74, 

Unprofitable  courses 

Unselfishness 

Unsociability 

Urban  development 

Urbanity 

Usage. 

Usage  (of  language) 52, 

Useful  knowledge 28, 

Utilitarian  education 

Utility.  

Utilization 


370 

478 

239 

157 

449 

10 

75 

246 

315 

221 

382 

14 

60 

53 

29 

26 

260 

307 


Vacations.  .    251,  370,  385 

Value  of  English 49,     51 

Value  of  positions 31 

Values,  money -503 

Vandals O 

Varied  experience « 

Variety   of    interests 370 


PAGE 

Vary,    power    to 307 

Versatility 15,  306 

Vigor 66 

Virtue.  .' 200 

Visiting  works  and  constructions. .  462 

Vocabulary 306 

Vocations,   importance    of 176 

Vocation  of  the  engineer 177 

Volitional   side   of   university   life..    137 


w 


Wanted,  being -.  . . .  323 

Wasting  time 363,  385 

Water-powers 296 

Water-supply.   264,  466 

Wraterways,   improvement   of 446 

Wharves 383 

Will 238,  239 

Will,   exercise   of 138 

Williams,  Gardner 210 

Words.  151 

Work 315 

Work    definition   of 203,  205 

Work,  effective. 243 

Work   for   engineers 199 

Work,    extra    scholastic 85' 

Work,  hard 39,  311 

Working  time,  increasing 460 

Work,   liberality   in 377 

Work  of   the   engineer 168,  281 

Work,  prescribed 85 

World  progress 467 

Worth 378 

Worthless  books 442 

Writing 120,  185,  433 

Writing    (books  and  papers)  ..  .363,  364 

Writing,  errors  in 58 

Writing  neatness  in 121 

Writing  of  instructions 63 

Writing  of  letters 130 

Writing  papers 441 

Writing,   reputation   from 364 

Writing,    system   in 121 


Yellow  fever 269 

Young  engineers,  deficiencies  in....  454 


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